


wHm mswt

by EmeraldTrash666



Series: Second Main Phase [2]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Aromantic Character, Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, Ba-Ka Theory, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling, Post-Canon, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2020-07-09 15:19:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 163,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19889989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldTrash666/pseuds/EmeraldTrash666
Summary: [wHm mswt] be born again, (repeating of birth) {F25 G17 Y1 F31 S29 G43 X1 B3}-Paul Dickson's Dictionary of Middle EgyptianEvery tale of heroics has its happy ending, yet sometimes "happily ever after" isn't as instantaneous as one would think. Living with Yuugi's family, the road to recovery is still a long one for Atem.Chapter 10 summary: Mr. Mutou has figured out the source of his strange new son's depression: A lack of cats. Meanwhile, Atem jumps to conclusions.





	1. Happy Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is my take on playing with ba-ka theory (although I don't personally see it as being strictly divided along those lines- the Egyptian conceptualization of a person is just so much more complicated than that). This fic is... Not exactly a super lighthearted one, but not all doom and gloom, either. At the end of the day, this is a story about recovery; It'll have its ups and downs, so be prepared for some tough scenes, but rest assured that there will be happy scenes as well. Things will get better as it goes on.  
> By the way, as the title implies, this fic does take place in the same continuity as my Kaiba character development fics, _wHyt_ and _snb._ Obviously, this fic starts out some time before those do. I'm not sure I'd necessarily call them a "series", given that they don't really have any overarching plot + can all stand on their own, but I'll probably add them all into some sort of collection eventually.  
> As always, this is NOT a ship fic, and it WILL contain major spoilers for the end of Duel Monsters. That being said, enjoy!

For all the drama, tension, and energy that had filled the room only moments earlier, the aftermath of the Ceremonial Duel felt disturbingly… Plain. Normal. Empty.

As if something was supposed to happen, but for once a room was just a room, and the people in it just people. There was no magic to be found, only the cold, stale air of the underground temple.

The sheer lack of eventfulness felt blasphemous.

“So… That’s it, then,” Bakura said quietly after a few minutes. “He’s really gone.”

Anzu sniffled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. “It’s not… It’s not fair!” she exclaimed, voice trembling.

Yuugi’s grandfather sighed. “Now now, my dear… It’s alright. This is for the best,” he told her gently, though there was no masking the sadness in his voice. “The pharaoh’s soul has already been in this world for far too long. He deserves rest.”

“I know, but-”

“But it shouldn’t have to end this way!” Honda interrupted, stomping a foot in emphasis, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. “Not after everything we’ve been through! He can’t… He can’t just _ leave  _ us all like that! Friends are supposed to be together forever!”

“Please don’t fight,” a quiet voice interrupted. Everyone paused, taking in sharp breaths as they glanced at Yuugi, who stood with his head bowed low.

Yuugi took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and looked up. He forced a smile onto his face before speaking.

“Grandpa’s right. I’m sure the other- I mean, Atem is… happier this way. And I’m sure he’d want us to be happy too,” he insisted. “So let’s not fight, ok?”

Honda and Anzu frowned guiltily, looking away from Yuugi in shame.

“Yuugi’s right,” Jounouchi agreed. “I-I mean… Even if he is… gone, we’ll always be friends, so-” he paused as his voice began to tremble too much to deny, and wiped his tears on his sleeve. “...L-Let’s go home, yeah?” he finished quietly.

The others gave soft, solemn murmurs of agreement.

The group slowly gathered their bags and began making their way towards the stairs, with gazes downcast, no sounds other than footsteps and quiet sniffles; Yuugi couldn’t help glancing back at the door one last time, some desperate part of his mind hoping that maybe he’d see his other half coming running out to catch up with them.

He sighed when no such thing happened, turning back around. He really should have known better.

Yuugi quietly followed after his friends, trying his best to ignore the aching silence in the back of his mind as he-

Suddenly, the room began to shake, prompting the group to turn around in surprise. No one had time to react before the door to the afterlife suddenly slammed open with a thunderous grind and a great  _ kaboom,  _ accompanied by… What was that sound-?

“...Aaaaaaa _ aaaaaaaaaah-  _ Oof!”

The last person anyone had expected to see tumbled rather unceremoniously out of the light, rolling right across the floor before slamming into the stone tablet, landing on his head with his feet in the air. The others stared with eyes so wide, it seemed as if they might jump out of their skulls.

“Atem?!”

“Pharaoh?!”

“Other Me?!”

“Hey,” Atem said with a weak grunt as he attempted to right himself. He finally managed to stand up, tossed his tangled-up cape back over his shoulder where it was supposed to be, and gave his friends an awkward wave and a nervous smile.

Atem took a deep breath- Shuddering involuntarily for a moment at just how strange that felt- As the others ran back down the stairs, their various exclamations of shock and confusion all mixing together into one loud noise that was unintelligible to Atem’s unfamiliar ears. He winced slightly, but nonetheless tried to keep his composure (not that he’d had much to begin with, he thought to himself, awkwardly adjusting his lopsided circlet) as he thought about how to explain the situation.

“...So. Um. ...I got kicked out,” he finally confessed, not knowing what else to say. He fought back the urge to cover his ears as the others once again reacted as predicted.

“What do you mean, you got kicked out?! What did you  _ do?!” _ Anzu gasped.

Atem huffed. “I didn’t  _ ‘do’  _ anything, thank you!” he insisted, looking offended.

“But then, what happened?” Honda wondered. “How the hell do you get kicked out of the afterlife?”

“Pharaoh.” Ishizu looked Atem directly in the eye, with a serious aura to both her face and her voice. “Is everything alright?”

Atem once again paused for a moment to try to figure out how to explain things, fidgeting nervously.

“Uh… How much do you guys know about the Egyptian afterlife?” he began.

“The basics, I guess,” Anzu replied with a shrug.

“I’d say I have a pretty complete understanding of it,” Bakura added.

“Uh, let me think…” Jounouchi frowned slightly in concentration. “Isn’t it something like, you die and then Anubis puts your heart on a scale to see if you’re like, worthy or something?”

“Yeah, and then if you fail a crocodile eats your heart, I think,” Honda added.

Yuugi’s eyes widened at this, as he came to a sudden realization. “Oh no… Don’t tell me…” 

He couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence, feeling his heart sink in his chest as he recalled unpleasant memories. Fires, nightmares, hallucinations, knives; Things they never spoke of, things nobody wanted to address. Yuugi had always told himself that it hadn’t been his Other Self’s fault, he hadn’t been in his right mind at the time, but still.. If his crimes were being weighed against him…

“Don’t worry, I didn’t fail,” Atem assured him, and Yuugi sighed in relief. “Actually, I didn’t even get judged at all.”

“Why not?”

Atem sighed. “There’s… No real easy way to say this, but... Well, turns out I’m missing half my soul.”

And there it was again. God, why did they all have to be so _ loud?  _

“You’re  _ what?!” _ Marik exclaimed.

“Mm, I thought that might be the case,” Bakura admitted with a slight sigh, giving Atem a sympathetic look.

“Wait, wait, wait. Hang on,” Jounouchi interrupted. “You’re missing  _ what? _ How?! And more importantly, are you ok?!” he questioned.

Atem shrugged. “I mean, I guess? I dunno… As to how it happened, though…” He frowned as he recalled the cause, trying not to dwell too hard on the painful memories. “When I- Or rather,  _ we, _ er, that is, the pharaoh… W-Well, you guys know most of the story, but it turns out that my- I mean, _ his  _ soul actually got split into two pieces that day,” he explained. “Half of it got sealed into the Millennium Puzzle- In other words, me. As for the other half…”

He didn’t need to finish; Everyone knew. Though they all turned to face Yuugi, he didn’t seem to even blink, his eyes never leaving Atem’s face for even a second.

“I knew it. We  _ are _ the same,” Yuugi whispered breathlessly. “I knew we had to be.”

Atem met Yuugi’s gaze silently, and gave the smallest of nods. Nothing more needed to be said.

“I thought so,” Bakura admitted. “I didn’t want to say anything because it wasn’t any of my business, but…”

“So… What does this mean, exactly? Are you staying?” Anzu wondered. 

“I guess?” Atem frowned in confusion. “I mean… I was told, and I quote, ‘Come back when you’re in one piece’. And now here I am, so…” He shrugged.

For the first time, the others reacted not with shock and worry, but with excitement and relief. Atem couldn’t help but smile a little bit himself, seeing the wide grins on his friends’ faces.

“That’s great! I’m so glad!” Anzu cheered. 

“Other Me, do you know what this means?!” Yuugi gasped, with the brightest smile Atem had ever seen on his face. “You don’t have to go… You’re staying! You can finally get to  _ live!” _ he exclaimed excitedly. “You can go to school, and eat food, and have birthday parties, and duel just for fun, and buy your own clothes, and… And…”

Atem tried not to think too much about the way his breath caught in his throat at Yuugi’s words.

He’d get to  _ live _ .

Would he? Could he? He didn’t know. He didn’t know  _ how _ to live, really; He had never thought he could. Living, it seemed, was not for someone like him. Living was for  _ people,  _ not for long-dead ghosts imprisoned in magical items. Not for half-baked spirits who could do nothing but imitate real people, nor for servants of destiny who existed only to act as sentient locks keeping back the apocalypse. 

Atem had never truly had a life of his own, not since the gods had placed him on this earth, destined to fight Zorc for the sake of humanity; He’d served his purpose now, and his time was up, so it was time to go. Or so he’d assumed. People like him didn’t need, or deserve, human lives, no matter how desperately he may have longed for one. He couldn’t be what he was not, and he had never truly been a real teen.

But now… Was Yuugi right? Was he finally being given a chance at life? It was hard to believe, yet there he stood. He hoped Yuugi was right, because he wanted it. God, he wanted it… He wanted it so badly he could cry. He wanted so desperately to be real, to stay with the friends he’d come to love so much, and pretend that maybe things had always been that way, that he belonged too.

He took a deep breath- And then almost didn’t, because it felt so  _ weird _ and this was no time to start freaking out over having a body. So he took a breath, and forced himself to focus on his friends instead.

Honda wiped his eyes, looking as if he might start crying again. “Aw, geez… You made us get all emotional over nothing, man!” he told Atem. 

“I’m sorry,” Atem said sincerely, bowing in apology with genuine guilt in his expression, although there had been no true bitterness in Honda’s voice. “I’m really sorry for upsetting you guys.”

“It’s alright,” Jounouchi assured Atem with a smile, and gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder. “Welcome home, buddy.”

Atem suddenly froze at Jounouchi’s touch, his whole body tensing up. He went dead silent, completely still; The others watched in shock as Atem stared at Jounouchi with eyes wide as saucers and full of so many conflicting feelings all at once- Confusion, recognition, relief, fear, wanting, uncertainty, desperation, looking for all the world as if-

As if he’d never been touched before.

Everything seemed to slow down for Atem, his mind completely overwhelmed as it tried to process what had just happened. Jounouchi’s simple touch had started a chain reaction in his newfound nervous system, and he didn’t know how to handle it. He felt the touch- Oh god, he  _ felt _ it- He felt every inch of it, every single cell, even after Jounouchi had taken his hand away, as clearly as if it had been red hot; He didn’t know if he liked it or hated it, it felt so right but it felt so  _ strange _ and he knew he’d felt such a sensation before, but it had been so very long and all he knew was that he  _ felt _ it-

Everything seemed so far away all of a sudden. Atem opened his mouth to try to speak, but he couldn’t, and he felt his breathing grow faster and faster- Shit, he was  _ breathing,  _ and the air felt so heavy and thick all of a sudden, making him feel like he couldn’t breathe yet couldn’t slow down at the same time. A strange heavy feeling grew in the pit of his stomach, and he felt his face grow hot- Oh god, he felt that too, he had a face and he could  _ feel _ it and that was  _ his blood _ heating his cheeks- He tried to find his way back to his friends, to ask for help because something was very very wrong and he was scared, but everything was so far away and he- He couldn’t speak- He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t  _ think- _ He didn’t know what was happening anymore, he- He couldn’t- He-

...He fainted.

* * *

Yuugi nearly tripped as he followed the group onto the boat, not at all looking where he was going; Atem remained unconscious, carried carefully by Honda, and Yuugi followed closely behind him like an anxious shadow. He knew he should have been paying attention to his surroundings, yet he couldn’t seem to bring himself to look away from Atem for more than a second, as if he might somehow vanish when Yuugi wasn’t looking. 

“How is he?” Marik asked, glancing worriedly at Atem. 

Honda sighed, adjusting his hold on the body in his arms. “Well, as far as I can tell, he’s not dead, but he’s still out cold,” he answered. “He’s so light, though… It worries me,” he added quietly. 

“I’m really sorry,” Jounouchi said, biting his lip. “I didn’t mean to freak him out like that. I had no idea he didn’t like to be touched.”

“It’s ok. It wasn’t your fault,” Yuugi assured him gently. “No one knew, not even me.”

Jounouchi said nothing, but frowned worriedly, still watching Atem with a guilty look.

Nonetheless, the group continued onto the boat and towards the cabins. The adults made up the rear, talking quietly amongst themselves about logistics while occasionally sparing a concerned glance towards the kids; Marik walked between the two groups, listening to both conversations, as if still not sure whether he should be with his siblings or with the other teenagers. 

“...Ishizu. May I ask you a question?” Rishid asked quietly after a few minutes. 

“Of course you can, Rishid,” Ishizu replied with a nod. “What is it?”

“Why did you not tell them about this?”

Ishizu frowned in confusion. “Tell who about what?”

“Tell the Pharaoh and the Chosen One about their true identities,” Rishid clarified. 

“Because I didn’t know,” Ishizu answered honestly. “How could I have? It came as a surprise to everyone.”

Rishid went silent for a moment, before giving a quiet, short, understanding “Oh.”

“‘Oh’?” Ishizu repeated, raising an eyebrow at Rishid questioningly. 

Rishid shifted uncomfortably and walked a bit faster, a hint of a guilty expression on his face. 

Ishizu sighed, stepping up to Rishid and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, Rishid. I know you well enough to know there’s something you’re not saying,” she insisted, though her voice was gentle. “Did you know about this?”

“Yes,” Rishid finally admitted with a sigh.

Ishizu blinked in surprise. “Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“I had assumed you knew,” Rishid explained, tilting his head apologetically. “I… Thought everyone did, to be honest. I did find the concept of the Ceremonial Duel to be a bit strange in such a context, but you’ve always been far wiser than me, so I assumed you must have had a good reason for going through with it.” He gave a small shrug as he awkwardly finished his explanation. 

Ishizu and Marik both exchanged looks of wide-eyed surprise, shocked speechless by this revelation. 

“What made you think that? How did you know?” Ishizu wondered, with genuine surprise clear in her voice. 

“It seemed obvious to me, based on the old legends,” Rishid answered. “Tombkeeper tradition always said that the Chosen Vessel would be the Pharaoh born into modern times. I always assumed they were referencing the parts of a human being,” he recalled. “We already knew the Pharaoh had been separated from his  _ ren, _ and obviously his  _ khat, _ so it seemed sensible to me that the ‘Chosen One’ must have referred to his  _ ka, _ and the ‘Soul of the Nameless Pharaoh’ his  _ ba.” _

“That… Actually makes a lot of sense,” Ishizu realized. “I did always find that part strange, but… I suppose I never really questioned it, huh?”

“Yeah, I never would have thought of that,” Marik agreed. “You’re damn smart, you know that, Rishid?”

Rishid blushed, looking unsure of how to react. “Oh… um… Thank you.”

“Just be sure to tell me next time you have any big revelations, alright?” Ishizu teased gently, smiling as she patted Rishid on the back.

Rishid nodded, and hesitantly smiled back. “Of course… Sister.”

Just as the Ishtars finished their conversation, the group reached the overnight cabins. Everyone wordlessly filed into Yuugi’s cabin, gathering around the bed as Honda carefully laid Atem down; They all watched him carefully for a few minutes, waiting, worrying.

Atem remained asleep. The gentle rise and fall of his chest was the only indication of any relative safety.

“Is he going to be ok?” Anzu wondered quietly.

“I’m really worried about him, honestly,” Honda admitted. “I mean, what if something’s wrong with him?”

“Honda!” Jounouchi gasped.

Honda shook his head. “Think about it, though! He just came back from the dead! And he said he only has half a soul, right? That’s not normal. What if he’s, like, half dead or something?”

“Stop it! Don’t say things like that!” Jounouchi insisted, sounding genuinely distressed. He glanced from Honda to Atem, and Yuugi could see the fear in his eyes, his eyes lingering on Atem’s chest as if to make sure he was still breathing.

“...I think… I think he’s going to be fine,” Yuugi said slowly after a moment, watching Atem thoughtfully. “I mean, maybe you do have a point about the undead thing, I don’t know, but aside from that… Well, I’ve lived this long, haven’t I?” he pointed out. “I think maybe he was just overwhelmed back there.”

“Overwhelmed?” Anzu repeated questioningly.

“Yeah. I mean, didn’t you see the way he kept flinching every time we were loud?”

“Really? I didn’t notice that,” Anzu admitted.

“Yeah, me neither,” Jounouchi added, frowning slightly.

“If that’s the case, then it would probably be best if most of us leave the room for the time being,” Ishizu suggested, and all eyes turned towards her, her words a commanding presence as usual. “If the Pharaoh was so overwhelmed that he fainted, crowding him the moment he wakes up would only exacerbate the problem.”

The others looked as if they were about to protest, but looked around at each other; Looked at Yuugi, watching Atem with a worried expression; Looked at Atem, still unconscious on the bed, a tense expression on his sleeping face.

“...I hate to say it, but Ishizu-san is right,” Anzu sighed. “Come on, guys. We can come back when he’s awake.”

The others looked conflicted, but reluctantly nodded, and began making their way towards the door. 

“Tell Atem I hope he feels better soon,” Bakura said to Yuugi on his way out. 

Yuugi nodded. “Sure.”

Jounouchi hung back slightly from the rest of the group, taking one last worried glance at Atem from the doorway. 

“Hey, Yuugi… um… When he wakes up, you’ll tell him I’m sorry, won’t you?” he asked, fidgeting nervously. “I really didn’t mean to scare him. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s ok, Jounouchi-kun,” Yuugi assured him gently. “It was an accident, and I’m sure he knows that. He knows you would never hurt him on purpose. But I’ll tell him anyway,” he added, smiling reassuringly. 

Jounouchi nodded. “Thanks. See you later, then,” he finished, and shut the door behind him.

Only Atem, Yuugi, and Yuugi’s grandpa remained. Yuugi sighed, glancing down at Atem and biting his lip; His grandfather watched the two of them, tilting his head thoughtfully with an affectionate smile, though it couldn’t mask the worry in his eyes. 

“Well this was quite the surprise, huh?” he said softly after a moment, chuckling slightly as he attempted to lighten the mood.

Yuugi gave a hum of acknowledgement, yet didn’t take his eyes off Atem.

“It hardly feels real,” he muttered. “I’m really happy, but… I mean, what will mom and dad say? And what am I supposed to tell everyone at school?” he wondered, frowning worriedly.

Grandpa gave Yuugi a sympathetic look, and an affectionate pat on the head. “Don’t worry about that too much right now. You’ll figure it out, I’m sure. You two are nothing if not resourceful,” he assured him. 

Yuugi sighed. “Yeah, I guess so.”

There was silence for a while after that, both watching as Atem slept. After a few minutes, grandpa stood up from his chair. 

“Well, I guess I’ll leave you two alone, then,” he decided, smiling reassuringly one last time. Yuugi waved goodbye until the door clicked shut, and then things were quiet.

Too quiet. Frighteningly quiet. More quiet than things had ever been for a long, long time, so quiet that-

Yuugi shook his head; He didn’t want to think about that. He had to think about the good things, he decided. He sat down in the chair, subconsciously brushing his fingers across the surface of the Millennium Puzzle, and looked over at Atem.

It still felt so… surreal, seeing him there. He could hardly believe his eyes. He’d seen him in this form before, of course, but that hadn’t truly been real, just a part of the Other Bakura’s memory RPG; This was  _ real.  _ That tan-skinned boy in strange clothes, breathing softly as he lay asleep on the bed, was Yuugi’s precious Other Self, given a form of his own. Not a mere presence in the back of Yuugi’s mind, nor a translucent spirit floating by his side, nor a projection of the Millennium Puzzle. No, this was far different.

This Atem was solid. Real.  _ Alive. _ Here, with Yuugi, and no one could ever take him away again, and Yuugi’s heart skipped a beat every time he thought about it.

Yuugi fidgeted in his chair, feeling an urge to stand back up again. Truth be told, his first instinct was to climb into bed with Atem, to curl up next to him and hold him tight and sleep until they reached Cairo; Perhaps it was all the time they’d spent sharing one body (a lifetime, some distant part of Yuugi’s mind reminded him), but somehow, the fact that there was any amount of physical distance between them felt wrong. It made him feel anxious.

But Atem didn’t seem to like to be touched, Yuugi reminded himself, so he had to stay away no matter how much he wanted to cuddle. Actually, he realized, he should probably try to make Atem feel as comfortable as possible; Having been carried the whole way from the temple to the boat and dropped onto the bed by Honda, he probably wasn’t in the most comfy position. Nor was he likely in the most comfortable outfit, Yuugi realized, looking at all the heavy jewelry that adorned every limb on Atem’s body.

For the next several minutes, Yuugi busied himself with making Atem comfortable, grateful for a task to take his mind off the burning silence in his head. 

He first took off Atem’s shoes, and then his cape. He gently lifted Atem’s head, positioning the bed’s pillow underneath so that it would support his neck and shoulders. He moved his arms and legs into what was hopefully a more comfortable position, and then began taking off his jewelry.

All the while, Yuugi was slow and careful, taking great care not to accidentally wake Atem, or touch his skin more than was necessary- No matter how much Yuugi may have wanted to comfortingly caress his head, or brush a hand against his cheek, or hold his hand and never let it go; Maybe these gestures would have been comforting to someone else, but if Atem didn’t like to be touched, then Yuugi was going to be damn sure to respect that.

...Atem certainly did have a lot of jewelry, Yuugi thought to himself as he slid yet another ring off Atem’s finger; Yuugi himself was no stranger to the concept of wearing lots of accessories- he rarely left the house without at least a choker, bracelets, two belts, and of course the Millennium Puzzle- but Atem put every goth Yuugi had ever seen to shame. Rings, bracelets, arm cuffs, a fancy belt, anklets, a large and intricately beaded necklace, multiple earrings, a winged circlet… It was insane to think that Atem had popped out of the afterlife with not only a brand new body of his own, but all of this stuff to boot.

(The one piece Yuugi didn’t remove was the tiny silver cartouche bearing Atem’s name, the simple gift that had unexpectedly come to be their saving grace in the shadow RPG. After everything Atem had gone through to find his name, he deserved to keep it close.)

Come to think of it, wasn’t there supposed to be only a relatively small finite amount of gold in the world? Had Atem just broken the law of conservation of mass, or did a bunch of gold just vanish from somewhere else? Was there now more gold on earth than there had been two hours ago? Had Yuugi and his friends just unwittingly tanked the market value of gold?

Of course, these were unanswerable questions, and wondering about them was nothing but pointless overthinking. Yuugi knew this, but he took the time to overthink them anyway, because it was better than the alternative.

Because he’d finished taking care of Atem, and now he had nothing to do. Now, it was quiet again. And Yuugi couldn’t stand it.

Nothing had been this quiet for Yuugi in what felt like forever. His mind felt… Empty, isolated, far too silent for comfort. He’d grown used to sharing his consciousness with his “other self”; It had never been  _ loud _ in Yuugi’s mind per se, and they’d both always had some degree of privacy, but they had always been aware of each other. He could always sense him, sleeping in the back of Yuugi’s mind, coming out to talk to Yuugi whenever he had something to say… But now there was no quiet hum in the back of his mind, no flickers of emotion dancing at the edge of his consciousness, no one to reach out and talk to. 

It felt something like when the electricity goes out, and suddenly it’s eerily quiet, even though you’d never noticed the hum of electronics before. It felt like that, only so much worse, and Yuugi hated it, because every instinct was screaming at him that something was wrong. His Other Self wasn’t there, he was _ gone,  _ he couldn’t sense him anywhere, and his instincts were screaming that something was very wrong, something must have been wrong with the Millennium Puzzle, he needed to find him and help him and protect him- Even though Yuugi could see Atem right in front of him, safe and sound.

Anxiously, Yuugi ran his fingers along the sides of the Millennium Puzzle, tracing every seam between the pieces. There was, of course, nothing physically wrong with it, but it still didn’t feel right; Yuugi could still sense the power within it, but there was no warmth, no comfortingly familiar presence anchored to it. The Millennium Puzzle was empty, and the other half of Yuugi’s soul was not in it.

The other half of his soul…

Yuugi sighed thoughtfully as he glanced over at Atem once again. Finally, he understood why he’d been so depressed throughout most of his life; Yuugi had always had a good life, sure, and he was always cheerful for the most part, but he’d never truly been _ happy.  _ The only thing that had brought him any fleeting moments of genuine happiness throughout his childhood had been games. The rest of his waking moments were occupied by anxiety, a crushing, burning loneliness he could never quite understand, and an inexplicable obsessive need to solve the Millennium Puzzle. It was only after he completed the Puzzle- after he finally reunited with his missing half- that Yuugi stopped feeling that loneliness, and finally started truly, genuinely enjoying life.

He found himself smiling slightly, despite everything. Perhaps most people would be shocked, even upset to learn that they were an incomplete person, a fractured piece of a long-dead king’s soul, but not Yuugi. To him, hearing Atem’s words had been a deep relief; In many ways, it had been a confirmation of what he’d already known, what he’d _ always  _ known on some level from the moment they’d met. How he knew, he had no idea, and he hadn’t truly  _ known _ -known, but something had clicked into place with Atem’s explanation. It had felt much like the moment he’d first solved the Millennium Puzzle.

Atem truly _ was _ his Other Self. He was Atem, and Atem was him, and they were each other, and they always had been and always would be. They were a broken pair, never truly meant to exist, but at least they were finally  _ together  _ after so many years; One way or another, their broken soul would mend itself someday. They were going to be ok.  _ He _ was going to be ok. He had his other half back, and that was all that mattered.

...And to think, he had almost lost it all.

He had known something was wrong from the moment Ishizu had told him about Atem’s final quest. The thought of losing Atem felt like a death sentence, or worse… Yuugi had wanted to desperately to say no, to beg Atem to stay because he was his Other Self and they  _ belonged  _ together, and yet he didn’t. He’d chalked his feelings up to a selfish, clingy dependency on his best friend, and told himself that acting on them would do no one any good. This was for the best, he’d reminded himself over and over and over again. Atem would be happier this way, he’d lied to himself.

And so he’d kept quiet, and watched the other half of his soul walk through that door, knowing that he would never return. He’d thrown away his life, his happiness, because he believed it would make Atem happy.

Distantly, he thought that he really ought to try to work on the whole self-sacrificing thing.

(He wondered if Atem had known what he was doing.)

Suddenly, Yuugi’s phone began ringing. He jumped, scrambling to turn down the ringer so as to avoid waking Atem, and ran to the far corner of the room to answer it.

“Uh, hello..?” he began awkwardly, frowning in confusion. Who was calling him, anyway?

_ “What did you do?” _

Yuugi blinked in surprise at the familiar voice. “Excuse me?”

_ “What. Did. You. Do,”  _ Kaiba repeated, and Yuugi could have sworn he heard a nervous edge to Kaiba’s angry growl.

“I didn’t ‘do’ anything,” he insisted, raising an eyebrow. “Kaiba-kun, what are you talking about?”

Yuugi heard an irritated sigh echo over the phone.  _ “Where’s the other one?”  _ Kaiba grumbled.

“You mean Atem? He’s sleeping right now,” Yuugi answered, stealing a quick glance over his shoulder at Atem.

_ “Let me talk to him.” _

“I just  _ said _ he’s sleeping,” Yuugi repeated, frowning as he began gradually losing patience. “Kaiba-kun, what are you on about? You’re being awfully vague and pushy. If there’s something you’d like to say, then just say it.”

At first, there was no response. Yuugi heard a few frustrated growls from off in the distance, the sound of pacing across a room, and then finally, more silence.

_ “...Try not to get yourself killed this time,”  _ Kaiba muttered after a few minutes.

Yuugi frowned in confusion, and opened his mouth to ask just what that meant- But before he could, the line went dead, a familiar  _ beep, beep, beep _ alerting him that Kaiba had hung up. Yuugi stood there confusedly for a moment before sighing, putting his phone away, and shaking his head in disbelief at the whole thing.

As he returned to his chair, he glanced at Atem; His expression had softened a bit, to Yuugi’s relief, but he still seemed to be fast asleep. He would wake up, Yuugi knew, but how long it would be before then was a mystery to him.

Yuugi sighed, cradled the Millennium Puzzle in his hands, and tried not to think about the silence in his head.

He had a long wait ahead of him.


	2. The First Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for mentions of vomiting. Probably some other stuff, I dunno, it's an emotionally intense chapter.  
> I would also like to say that, for the record, this fic mostly follows manga canon. Except that Otogi isn't here, because... Tbh I have nothing against him, but like, why was he even there?? I just kind of left him out for convenience. Sorry. :(

The first thing Atem became aware of upon waking up was a strange rocking, bouncing sensation, and a familiar presence nearby. The second thing he became aware of was everything else.

He hadn’t even opened his eyes yet, and still there was so much to take in. So many sensations, he hardly knew what to do. He felt his own shaky breathing- In and out, in his nose and his mouth and his throat, was that right? Was he breathing too much, not enough? He didn’t know. He felt his heartbeat, god, he had a _ heartbeat,  _ and he wasn’t sure if that was right either; He felt his face, his cheeks and his forehead and his ears, he felt his lips pressed together, he felt hair on his face; He felt the inside of his mouth, the bumpy texture of his teeth and the roof of his mouth, his tongue sitting between them, he felt air and saliva inside his mouth and was there too much of that or not enough? He felt his arms and legs, the insides of his elbows stuck together slightly, he felt something soft(? What did soft feel like?) underneath him and on top of him too; He felt his eyelids, and he saw distant light behind them, filtering through the skin; He felt his hands, feet, palms, fingers, toes, one two three four five six seven eight nine ten, stuck together with sweat; He felt his chest and back, every single wrinkle in his shirt and every single pleat in his shendyt, pressing into his skin-

“Good morning,” Yuugi said softly. “Did you have a nice nap?”

Atem slowly opened his eyes, winced at the light, and made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a whimper. 

Yuugi smiled reassuringly, though his eyes betrayed concern. “How are you doing?”

Atem took a shaky breath, trying to collect his thoughts, and blinked several times (was he blinking too much? Was that normal?) before answering.

“I don’t know,” he said simply. 

“Well, how do you feel?”

_ “...So much.” _

Yuugi laughed slightly, despite his concerned look. “Mm, I thought you were probably overwhelmed,” he admitted. “It’s ok, just take your time. Rest as much as you need to, alright?”

Atem frowned- and then frowned harder at the strange sensation of the muscles in his face tensing. “Am I… Am I dying?” he wondered.

“Uh, no, why?” Yuugi replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh,” Atem muttered. His voice was flat and weak, tired, vulnerable, a far cry from his usual commanding tone. “I just wasn’t really sure, you see, because uh… I can feel my heartbeat,” he explained slowly. His mind felt foggy, slow to process his nebulous thoughts into words; It was hard to think properly, with so much going on all at once.

Yuugi nodded. “That’s ok. That’s normal sometimes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Yuugi repeated.

Atem nodded, and almost wished he hadn’t, given how strange it felt. “Hey, am I breathing right?”

Yuugi gave Atem an amused look. “I mean, it’s kind of hard to breathe wrong,” he pointed out. This, however, did not seem to reassure Atem very much.

“Y-Yeah, I guess, but- but I- I just, I don’t… Know how to do it,” he stammered nervously. “I don’t- I-I dunno if I’m ok, because I don’t really know what ok feels like,” he admitted. He felt his breathing began to speed up with his worry, and he immediately began trying to correct it- But the more he tried to breathe properly, the more he seemed to fail, making him breathe even faster as he grew more and more afraid.

Yuugi seemed to sense Atem’s distress, as he moved closer to the bed, dragging his chair with him. “Hey, relax. You’re ok,” he promised Atem, speaking in a gentle, soothing tone. “Humans aren’t as fragile as you think. You’re not going to suddenly drop dead just because your breathing is a little shaky,” he assured him with a slight laugh. “Relax. You’re fine. Just breathe however works for you.”

Atem opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t seem to find any words, unable to make up his mind on what he wanted to say. Finally, after a while, he gave a deep sigh and sunk further into his pillow.

“...There’s just  _ so much,”  _ he whispered once again.

Yuugi frowned worriedly, tilting his head in sympathy at Atem. He lifted his hand, almost reaching out to touch Atem’s head- but then didn’t, quickly dropping his hand back down again.

“I know. I’m sorry. I wish I could help you,” he said quietly. “Just… Take it easy for now, alright? Don’t overwhelm yourself any more than you already are. Take as much time as you need to adjust.”

Atem let out a hum of acknowledgement, and went silent for a while, taking Yuugi’s advice as he tried to get used to each new sensation. He tried not to focus too much on his breathing, too, though this was easier said than done; He tried to focus instead on the room at large, closing his eyes as he listened to his surroundings. A clock ticked diligently somewhere, and the boat’s engine hummed in the background. The boat’s steady bouncing echoed Atem’s own heartbeat as it pulsed through his veins, sending shocks of feeling along every inch of his new body, making him painfully aware of all of it.

“I can feel my eyelids,” he mumbled absent-mindedly.

“Yup.”

“Is it normal to feel your eyelids?” Atem wondered.

Yuugi shrugged. “Sure, I guess, if you pay attention to them.”

Once again, Atem’s only response was a tired hum.

He sighed, shivering involuntarily for some reason, startling himself slightly in the process; Without realizing it, he let out a quiet whimper of distress.

“Are you ok?” Yuugi asked worriedly.

Atem gave a shaky nod. “Y-Yeah. I’m just… Just, really overwhelmed. I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s ok. You don’t have to apologize,” Yuugi assured him, smiling gently. “Oh, that reminds me… Jounouchi-kun says he’s sorry about earlier,” he recalled. “He didn’t know you don’t like to be touched, and he really didn’t mean to scare you.”

“That’s alright. I know he’d never do something like that on purpose,” Atem replied.

Yuugi smiled. “That’s what I said, but he wanted me to tell you anyway, so.” He shrugged.

With that, the room fell silent again. Atem listened to the ticking of the clock, and the hum of the motor, and the quiet sound of Yuugi’s breathing. He absent-mindedly moved the fingers on one hand, feeling the bed cautiously yet curiously.

“...It was nice.”

Yuugi looked up from his magazine slightly. “Hmm?”

“When… When Jounouchi-kun touched my arm. It felt… nice,” Atem said quietly, and suddenly his mouth felt drier than it had before. “At least, I think it did… Maybe? I-I don’t know,” he realized. “I just… It’s just been so long since… since anyone…”

He couldn’t finish. He felt a strange tightness in his throat, and his face grew warm as tears welled up at the corners of his eyes. Now he was  _ sure _ he wasn’t breathing right this time.

Yuugi put down his magazine in surprise, looking up at Atem with wide eyes; He soon realized just what he was referring to, and his heart broke at the thought.

Had his Other Self really been _ completely alone _ for three thousand years? The thought of being isolated from all outside contact for even a week or two sounded terrifying to Yuugi. To think that Atem had endured that for  _ three thousand years…  _ Yuugi couldn’t imagine the pain he must have experienced, yet he would have given anything to undo it. No wonder the simple, tiny gesture of a pat on the shoulder had been enough of a shock to make Atem completely shut down.

Just what kind of effect did that level of isolation have on a person?

“I’m sorry,” Yuugi murmured softly, gently, and with heartfelt sincerity. “You must have been so lonely.”

Atem nodded wordlessly, and hated how unsettlingly strange it was to feel the tears on his face, and the sobs in his throat. With shaking arms, he pressed his palms against his eyes in the hopes of making it stop, yet he only seemed to feel worse. His face was too warm, too wet, too  _ alive;  _ On top of it all, bad memories threatened the edges of his mind, bringing back whispers of fear from a time when he’d known little else. He knew that the only thing keeping those memories from completely overwhelming his mind was the fact that it was already more than occupied by just trying to cope with existing.

How long Atem cried, he didn’t know; It was hard to grasp the passage of time in his state, too disoriented by his senses. At some point, Yuugi sat down next to the bed, folding his arms and resting his head on top of the mattress near Atem.

“It’s ok,” he told Atem gently. “It’s over now. You don’t have to be alone ever again, I promise. You’re safe now.”

Atem didn’t respond, but was grateful for the comfort. Somehow… Hearing those simple words made him cry even harder. Yuugi stayed all the while, close but never touching, whispering comforting words until Atem felt like he’d nearly cried out every tear in his tiny, frighteningly new body.

“Do you want to try… I don’t know, holding hands or something?” Yuugi suggested after a little while, once Atem had calmed down slightly. 

Atem sniffled, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “I-I don’t know... I want to, but…” he trailed off, not really sure what to say.

Yuugi nodded. “It’s alright, I understand. If you decide you want to try anything, just say so. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to,” he assured him.

Atem sighed as he gradually calmed down, his sobs slowly quieting to soft whimpers. His throat hurt now, and it struck him just how fitting that was; He could choose to reject his friends, to avoid human warmth and kindness because it scared him so, but he couldn’t avoid his own pain no matter how hard he tried. And yet, somehow, the mere presence of either of those things was still more than he had ever hoped for.

It didn’t feel real.

“Hey… I’m really glad you’re here,” Yuugi said, smiling reassuringly at Atem.

Atem nodded slowly. “Me too, but… I’m scared,” he admitted.

“Why?”

“Because…” Atem sighed. “It doesn’t feel real. What if this is all just some sort of messed up dream? What if I wake up, and I’m…”

“You won’t,” Yuugi assured him quickly. 

“But it just… It doesn’t make sense,” Atem replied, with a confused frown. “I mean, this is what I’ve always wanted- To stay with you, and get a chance to… To live my own life, and just- But I never thought it could actually happen,” he admitted. “Dead people don’t just come back to life, do they? I mean I can understand not being let into the afterlife, but… Why would they just…  _ Let me _ have my own body? It doesn’t make sense. There has to be a catch.”

“Because it’s what’s fair,” Yuugi decided. 

Atem gave Yuugi a confused look (and god, did it still feel weird, feeling every muscle in his face contort and tense). “Fair how?”

“Because… If… If we really are the same person, then we  _ both _ died back there. We both made that sacrifice,” Yuugi pointed out. “But, I mean… Here I am, right? I’ve been alive for seventeen years now. We both share equal responsibility. Why should I be deserving of a second chance, but not you?” he questioned.

Atem paused for a moment, quiet as he thought about this. He could still feel every breath he took, the anxious trembling of his body, the pounding of his heart, the tension in his face.

He wondered if this was how it always felt to be alive. He felt his heart speed up slightly at this thought, at the realization that he, too, was alive now.

He was really, truly  _ alive.  _ Not just pretending, not just an imitation borrowing someone else’s body.

He was  _ real. _

Atem took a deep, shaky breath. “Yeah, that’s… That makes sense,” he admitted hesitantly. “You’re right... I-I dunno, I guess I’m just kinda paranoid. Sorry.”

“It’s alright. I understand,” Yuugi replied with a nod. “I’m sure this whole thing must be a huge shock to you.”

“To put it mildly,” Atem grumbled. 

Yuugi laughed, and Atem couldn’t help but smile slightly at the sound.

“How are you feeling, by the way? Are you doing better now?” Yuugi asked.

Atem paused to think about it.

“...I don’t know,” he answered after a moment.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow in confusion. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I don’t know what normal feels like,” Atem admitted honestly. “I just feel…  _ So much,  _ and I don’t know what’s good or what’s bad… It’s just a lot to. You know.” He swallowed, and shuddered at how strange that felt, and then frowned at the feeling of shuddering, and then- “I-It’s a lot to… process, I guess,” he mumbled.

Yuugi frowned, shifting his position slightly and watching Atem with a worried expression.

“I don’t get it… I mean, you were always fine when we were sharing a body, right?” Yuugi pointed out confusedly. “Shouldn’t you be used to this?”

“It was different when I was with you,” Atem said quietly, his voice still tired and flat, slightly raw from crying. “It was like… Wearing gloves. Not like this. I’ve never had a body of my own before,” he muttered, frowning nervously.

Yuugi nodded in sympathy. “That makes sense. Just take your time, you’ll be alright,” he promised.

Atem sighed. “Yeah… How long until we get to Cairo, anyway?”

“Not until tomorrow afternoon, so you’ve got- Oh!” Yuugi suddenly exclaimed, startling Atem slightly as he sat bolt upright. “I almost forgot! Now that you’re awake, I should probably go talk to the others,” he realized, and then tilted his head with a thoughtful frown as he thought about what to do. “Hmm… I don’t want to leave you alone, but I don’t want to crowd you with too many people in the room, either… Uh…”

“You can go,” Atem told him, answering Yuugi’s unspoken question. “I think I’ll be ok by myself.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Just… um…” Atem paused for a moment, frowning, and took a deep breath. “Don’t- Don’t take too long, ok?” he blurted out nervously.

“Of course,” Yuugi confirmed with a nod. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I think most of the others are a room or two over, so if you need me that’s where I’ll be, alright?”

Atem gave another weak nod, and watched as Yuugi left, keeping his eyes on him until the last crack of space disappeared behind the closed door.

He glanced up at the ceiling, and wondered how things could suddenly feel so quiet even with so much noise.

* * *

Yuugi was not surprised to find most of his friends (and, of course, his grandfather) all crowded into the room next door. Anzu and Bakura sat on the bed, Honda was leaning against the wall, Marik- to Yuugi’s surprise- was sitting in the chair by the table, grandpa on the couch, and Jounouchi… Well, Jounouchi was…

“Goddamn it, where the hell did it go?!” he shouted from the floor. All Yuugi could see of Jounouchi was his rear, sticking out from under the bed.

Yuugi blinked in confusion. “Um…”

“Hey, Yuugi,” Honda greeted him with a wave. “Don’t mind Jounouchi.”

“I was just trying to use Skull Dice but I dropped the die and now it keeps rolling everywhere ‘cause we’re on a boat,” Jounouchi whined, still under the bed. (Bakura cheerfully put his feet up, using Jounouchi’s back as a footrest; Marik glanced at Jounouchi with an apologetic look, holding a hand of cards.)

“Hi guys. Atem’s awake,” Yuugi announced, and the whole room seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“How is he?” Anzu asked.

“He’s… Overwhelmed, and a little freaked out, but I think he’ll be alright,” Yuugi explained, with a slow nod. “Physically, he seems fine.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Grandpa said with a smile.

Honda nodded in agreement. “Yeah, he really had me worried there,” he agreed.

Jounouchi abruptly crawled out from under the bed, whacking his head and cursing under his breath in the process. “Can we go see him?” he asked Yuugi as he stood up, wincing as he rubbed his head.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” Yuugi admitted, frowning slightly. “I mean, I’ll ask if he’s ok with it, but… Like I said, he’s pretty overwhelmed as it is, so…”

“It’s ok, we understand,” Anzu assured him. “I’m just glad he’s awake.”

“And what about you, Yuugi? How are you doing?”

Yuugi frowned for a moment, confused by the question- But then he saw the quiet concern in Bakura’s eyes, a level of understanding that the others didn’t have.

“...I’m ok,” he replied quietly, swallowing as he pushed back thoughts of the silence in his head. “I’ve got a lot to think about, but… I’m fine. And I’m happy the Oth- I mean, Atem gets to stay,” he added.

“Speaking of that… We’ve got a lot to talk about,” Grandpa interrupted.

Yuugi bit his lip and nodded. “Yeah, I know. That’s partly why I came over here.”

Yuugi sighed, and sat down on the bed next to Bakura. He found himself instinctively shooting a worried glance towards the wall between this room and his room, wondering if Atem was doing alright; He shook his head to snap himself out of it, turning his attention back towards the room at large.

“As I’m sure you may have guessed, it looks like we won’t be able to go home right away,” Grandpa began.

“Wait, why?” Jounouchi asked in confusion. 

“Think about it. What do you need to get from Egypt to Japan?”

Jounouchi frowned thoughtfully. “Uh, let’s see… Money, a plane ticket-”

“Oh, I get it!” Bakura exclaimed. “Atem doesn’t have a passport.” 

Grandpa nodded. “Exactly.”

“So how do you get a passport, then?” Honda wondered. 

To everyone’s surprise, it was Marik who answered.

“To get a passport in Egypt, you’d need legal proof of citizenship,” he explained. “Which, obviously, the Pha- I mean, Atem definitely does not have. I… Might be able to find someone to forge the documents for you, but- I’m assuming you guys plan on staying in Japan, so it might actually just make things more complicated for you,” he admitted, with an apologetic frown. “And it wouldn’t exactly be cheap, either.”

“So in other words, we need someone who’s Japanese and has both connections and money,” Honda reiterated. “Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

“He’ll never agree to it,” Anzu said, shaking her head.

“He owes them a favor. If not several dozen.”

“I think Honda-kun’s right,” Yuugi decided with a nod. “Kaiba’s our best bet right now.”

Jounouchi made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a growl. “That’s so gross, though,” he complained. “Being dependent on that jackass for something like this…”

Yuugi shrugged. “What choice do we have?”

With that, the group turned towards Yuugi’s grandfather, as if waiting for some sort of judgement call. He closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly thinking it over, before slowly nodding.

“Mm, that does seem like a good place to start,” he finally decided. “If Kaiba refuses to help, we can work on a plan B. But for now, I do think it couldn’t hurt to try to convince him.”

Yuugi nodded. “So then, what do we do in the meantime? I mean… I-I’m sure extending our hotel stay is going to get expensive…” he muttered, glancing down at the floor.

Marik frowned worriedly. “I’d offer for you guys to stay with us, but… Our apartment barely has room for one more person, let alone seven.”

“Yeah, um, about that…”

The others glanced up in surprise, watching Anzu expectantly, waiting for her to continue. She fidgeted nervously for a moment before speaking.

“As much as I wish I could stay, I don’t think I can,” she confessed. “I mean, like you said, Yuugi, it’d get expensive, and my parents are already starting to lose patience with how much time I spend at tournaments and things with you guys instead of focusing on my studies or work... If I asked to keep staying in Cairo, mom and dad would kill me,” she said, shaking her head in reluctance. “I’m sorry, Yuugi.”

“Same here, probably, come to think of it,” Honda realized, gritting his teeth. Yuugi’s face fell as the others continued.

“My dad doesn’t give a shit what I do, but I don’t think I can afford it, to be honest,” Jounouchi sighed. “I might be able to manage another day, maybe, but beyond that…”

“I might be able to convince my dad to let me stay a little longer… I don’t know.”

Yuugi sighed; This outcome was unsurprising, of course, yet somehow the part of his mind that was most attached to his friends had simply assumed they would all stay. After all, why wouldn’t they?

“It’s ok, I understand,” he gave in with an apologetic tilt of the head. “I wouldn’t want to cause anyone any trouble.”

“If it makes you feel any better, Yuugi- Ishizu and Rishid and I will be around. I mean, obviously,” Marik said with a slight awkward laugh. “So if you need anything, we’re happy to help.”

Yuugi nodded. “Thank you, Marik-kun. I appreciate that,” he said sincerely, smiling at Marik. “Speaking of which, where are your siblings, anyway?”

“They went for a walk. I should probably go tell them the situation,” Marik realized. “Jounouchi, is it ok if we finish our duel later?”

Jounouchi gave a dismissive handwave. “Eh, forget about the duel, we’ve got more important stuff going on. We can duel another time,” he decided. “...Once I find my stupid die, and we’re not on a fucking boat anymore,” he added under his breath.

Marik laughed. “Sure thing. I look forward to it!”

As Marik left the room, shutting the door behind him, Yuugi took a deep breath.

“I should... probably head back now,” he announced. “I don’t want to leave Atem alone for too long.”

Grandpa nodded. “I’ll come with you. The three of us have a lot to discuss.”

“You’ll tell us how he’s doing later, won’t you?” Jounouchi asked Yuugi hurriedly, with a concerned, impatient look on his face. The others looked to Yuugi expectantly, with similar expressions.

“Of course,” Yuugi assured them with a nod. “I’m sure he’ll want to see everyone once he’s feeling a little better.”

Jounouchi and the others smiled, satisfied with this answer. With that, Yuugi headed out of the room, holding the door open behind him for his grandfather, giving one last wave before shutting it behind them.

* * *

It had barely been longer than a minute or two, and Atem was already beginning to seriously regret saying he didn’t mind Yuugi leaving.

The moment Yuugi had left, the room had suddenly become so much more quiet, so much more… cold, somehow. There was no one to talk to, nor anything to listen to except for the hum of the boat, the ticking of the clock, and the sound of Atem’s own heartbeat and slow, awkward, halting breaths; He still felt strange, still overwhelmed by every tiny little feeling and sound, even the taste of his own saliva and the smell of the pillow beneath his head, and there was still a soreness lingering in his throat and warm, damp streaks of half-dried tears on his face.

Now, however, he had no one to express this to, or ask for simple confirmation of whether or not what he was feeling was normal. Instead, he had to simply take it on blind faith that he wasn’t dying- Which seemed ridiculous, even silly, but to Atem, it was terrifying. He genuinely  _ didn’t know,  _ and the thought of dying… The thought of feeling nothing but pain, and then everything being over-

Atem took another deep, shaky breath. He couldn’t think like that. Yuugi had said he was fine, he reminded himself, and he trusted Yuugi more than anyone; If Yuugi said he wasn’t going to die, then he must have been right.

But Yuugi wasn’t here anymore, was he? No, he was not.

Yuugi was gone. 

How long had Yuugi been gone, now? It couldn’t have been longer than a minute or two, Atem thought, or five, or maybe ten… Or maybe not even a minute. It was hard to tell, without a clock within kind of sight, as the sheer level of sensory overload he was struggling against made his perception of time feel impossibly distorted. All he knew was that Yuugi had been gone for what felt like far too long already, and he hated it. There was a part of his mind that had to question if Yuugi was ever coming back, frantically running through ridiculously unrealistic “what if” scenarios- What if something had happened, and everyone except for Atem was dead? What if Yuugi has decided he didn’t want to deal with Atem anymore? What if this was all just a dream, or an illusion conjured up by the Millennium Puzzle to taunt him? He knew such thoughts were absurd, and certainly not true, and yet he couldn’t stop thinking about them. 

On top of that, with Yuugi gone, the room had become eerily quiet; For as much as Atem’s mind was painfully over-occupied with a thousand things at once, there was also a distinct empty space where there should have been none. Atem had grown so used to sharing a consciousness with Yuugi, spending his days comfortably idle in the warmth at the back of Yuugi’s mind, watching the world through Yuugi’s mind; Now, though, that warmth was gone. There was no cushion between him and the outside world, no one to connect with- If he reached out with his mind, he felt nothing, only cold silence and emptiness. 

Atem was truly alone in his body, and that scared him, because it had never happened before. His instinct was that he should  _ never _ be alone in his body, because it wasn’t his to begin with; He shared with Yuugi, he was a _ part  _ of Yuugi, and Yuugi should always have been in his body, even if he was stepping back for a while to let Atem take control. If Yuugi wasn’t there, if Atem couldn’t feel his presence in the back of his mind, then something was very wrong. And the last time Atem had been alone like this…

The last time he’d been alone…

...It had been… so very… 

...Cold. 

And dark, and lonely.

He hadn’t even had words to describe those things, because he’d never known anything else. Without any memories of the world outside the Millennium Puzzle, Atem hadn’t known that there  _ was _ anything else, or anyone other than him. For three thousand years Atem had never known what light was, never felt the warmth of another person’s touch, never heard another person’s voice; Never known that it was possible to feel emotions other than fear, sadness, anger, and an indescribable aching for  _ something _ without knowing what that “something” was, because there were no “somethings” other than himself and the darkness and the cold.

And now, even though he could see the ceiling and the wall next to him and the wall in front of him and the hair hanging down the side of his face and the bright light from the window behind him, even though he could hear sounds, even though he could feel the ambient warmth of an Egyptian afternoon… Without Yuugi there to be his anchor to the real world, it still felt far too much like the emptiness he’d felt back then.

Maybe the whole thing really  _ was _ an illusion. He knew it couldn’t be, he was only being paranoid, but what if it was? He couldn’t even try to find out, because he was too scared to move; Scared of feeling too much, and scared of possibly breaking the illusion, because even fake light was better than nothing.

He could feel that strange tightness in his throat and warmth in his face again. His breathing grew faster and more ragged, and he felt an unsettling heavy feeling somewhere in the pit of his his stomach. He knew something was definitely wrong now; Even if he didn’t know what to make of the rest of his feelings, with no baseline to judge them by, he could sincerely say that the way he felt right now felt distinctly and unmistakably  _ bad.  _ Maybe he was dying this time, maybe the body he wasn’t supposed to have was finally giving in to the balance of life and death, maybe he was about to die alone and afraid because Yuugi was gone and clearly he wasn’t coming back and-

With a click and a gentle creak, the door opened. Atem glanced at Yuugi, and instantly found himself back in the real world, with his thoughts from just moments ago suddenly seeming silly.

Of course he’d just been getting caught up in nonsensical thought spirals, nothing more than unrealistic imaginary scenarios. He was fine. Why wouldn’t he be? And there was Yuugi, back soon, just like he’d said he would be. It seemed silly to think just how upset Atem had gotten over a few paranoid daydreams.

“Hey,” Yuugi greeted him cheerfully, and then frowned slightly. “Is everything ok? You’re making kind of a weird face.”

“I’m fine,” Atem assured him quickly. “Welcome back.”

Atem smiled as Yuugi sat down on the bed- And then raised an eyebrow in surprise at the familiar face that took Yuugi’s place in the chair.

“Oh! Hello, Sia- I mean, grandpa- Ah, no, wait, I mean-”

Atem suddenly trailed off, not really sure what he _ did  _ mean. It suddenly struck him just how alone he was now; With an identity and memories of his own, he could no longer pretend that Yuugi’s family was his, but his own family was… Long gone, he realized. The man in front of him was not Siamun, but Sugoroku Mutou.

He swallowed nervously before continuing.

“...What… what should I… Call you?” he asked quietly, hesitantly, avoiding eye contact with the man he’d once called grandpa.

To Atem’s surprise, Yuugi’s grandfather huffed indignantly. “What do you  _ mean,  _ what should you call me? ‘Grandpa’, of course! You  _ are _ my grandson, aren’t you? Why should you call me anything else?”

Atem blinked- And then smiled, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. Of course he had nothing to worry about, it was Grandpa. Grandpa had always been kind to him, from his earliest days with Yuugi.

“Right… Of course. Thank you.”

(He felt more reassured than he was willing to say out loud.)

“Do you want to try sitting up?” Yuugi suggested to Atem after a moment. “It’d probably be easier to hold a conversation that way,” he added with a laugh.

“Oh, that’s a good point,” Atem realized, nodding in agreement.

He paused for a moment as he mentally steeled himself to sit up. With shaking, unsteady arms, he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position; He gasped, leaning forward for a moment in shock, reeling as blood suddenly rushed through his head. Everything felt different, and he panted heavily for a few seconds with wide eyes as he struggled to adjust to gravity.

“Are you ok?” Yuugi asked worriedly, and at the same time wordlessly grabbed the pillow from behind Atem, turning it upright against the headboard to support Atem’s back.

Atem nodded shakily as he flopped back against the pillow, his body feeling like a dead weight. “Y-Yeah,” he gasped weakly. “I’m ok, j-just… Just…”

“It’s ok. Take your time,” Yuugi told him with a reassuring smile.

The room was quiet for a few minutes as Atem recovered, with Yuugi and his grandfather waiting patiently until Atem’s breathing slowed. Once Atem seemed calm again, Grandpa cleared his throat.

“Now then, there are some things we need to discuss,” he announced. “Of course we’re all very happy you’re here, Atem, but the fact that this was so unexpected does make things a little bit… Complicated.”

Atem gave a small nod, frowning and looking away. “I know… I’m really sorry for the trouble,” he apologized quietly.

“It’s alright. No need to apologize,” Grandpa assured him with a smile.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it!” Yuugi added.

Atem nodded in gratitude, and looked towards the other two expectantly, waiting to hear more.

“First things first: We’ll have to stay in Cairo for a bit longer,” Grandpa began.

Atem frowned in confusion. “Why?”

“Because, my boy… Unless you’ve got a passport hidden somewhere in that fancy outfit of yours, we won’t be able to take you home with us,” Grandpa explained, nodding towards Atem and shaking his head in dismay.

“Oh, that’s right,” Atem realized with a gasp. “I forgot all about- Wait, but then what do we do?” he wondered, frowning worriedly.

This time, it was Yuugi who answered. He took a deep breath before reluctantly speaking.

“I hate to say it, but… It looks like we’re going to have to call in a favor with Kaiba,” he admitted with a sigh, gritting his teeth at the thought of Kaiba’s attitude.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “So, what… We’re going to ask Kaiba to send me a counterfeit passport?” he guessed.

“Exactly.”

“Oh, I’m sure he’s going to love that,” Atem muttered sarcastically. 

Yuugi shrugged. “I mean, he does kind of owe us,” he pointed out. 

“I guess so.”

“In any case, the other main hurdle is going to be… Breaking the news to Yuugi’s parents,” Grandpa continued with a sigh. “Now I don’t want you two to worry about that too much, so you can just leave the talking to me, but… Well, as I’m sure you can understand, it’s only sensible that they’ll likely be shocked and confused at first,” he admitted, frowning apologetically. “Be prepared for them to take a bit of convincing, and likely some compromise.”

Yuugi and Atem exchanged worried, almost solemn glances.

Atem looked away again.

“They can’t say no. I won’t let them,” Yuugi insisted, shaking his head with a determined look. “They shouldn’t treat Atem any differently from how they treat me, they have to-”

“And this is partly why I’m going to be the one doing the talking,” Grandpa interrupted. “You’re right, of course, but you have to be patient, my boy. I mean, think about things from their perspective. Imagine if someone told  _ you  _ you suddenly had a son you never knew about?”

“Then I’d do everything I could to make them feel comfortable and welcome, because that’s what a good parent should do,” Yuugi argued, crossing his arms and frowning.

Grandpa sighed. “Yes, I’m sure you would, and that’s very noble of you, but-”

“Um. Could. Could we… Maybe change the subject, please?” Atem interrupted quietly, hesitantly, fidgeting nervously. “A-And, um, talk a bit quieter? I’m sorry, I just…”

He trailed off, taking a deep breath as he tried to collect himself. Everything above a certain volume felt as loud as a gunshot next to his ear, and he didn’t like being reminded of just how much he… Didn’t belong.

The thought that his own right to exist could become a debate topic… It hurt, but he knew Yuugi’s grandpa was right. He was an uninvited guest, and already he was causing trouble for Yuugi and his family, forcing them to stay in Cairo for god knew how long… How much was that going to cost, anyway, having to extend their hotel stay like that? And buying an extra plane ticket? And then he was supposed to just start living with Yuugi and his family, with little warning to them. He was supposed to expect them to just happily treat him as their own son, to let him stay in their house, pay for his food and clothes and medical bills and school tuition… But how could he possibly expect such a thing? He  _ wasn’t  _ their son; Like it or not, Atem was nothing but a stranger to Yuugi’s family. He didn’t belong there. He’d be lucky if they weren’t outright hostile towards him.

He could feel the Bad Feeling threatening to take over again, and he hated it. Why couldn’t he feel any _ good  _ feelings? Why did everything have to hurt?

Wasn’t living supposed to be nice?

“Atem? Are you ok?” Yuugi asked worriedly.

Atem shook his head. He could feel the Bad Feeling getting stronger, making his throat tight and his eyes hot and his breathing fast, and he screwed his eyes shut and put his hands over his ears to try to make it go away; This only made it worse, however, as he quickly pulled his hands away again, flinching and whimpering at the shock of feeling his hands on his ears, and the strange, loud noise it made.

For the first time since being given a second chance at life, Atem regretted it. He wanted to disappear, to melt back into Yuugi’s body where he could simply lie dormant whenever he wasn’t needed; Having his own body was so much, and everything felt bad, and there was no way to shut it off, and he didn’t know how to cope, and he was being such a burden on everyone- He wanted to go away so he wouldn’t bother anyone but he  _ couldn’t, _ he was stuck there, and he couldn’t breath right and he felt really really sick- He instinctively reached out with his mind for Yuugi but Yuugi wasn’t there, he _ wasn’t there _ , and he was so scared and he felt sick and he couldn’t breathe and he needed Yuugi and and and and-

“Atem. Hey. Look at me,” he heard Yuugi’s voice say, and slowly, shakily, he obeyed.

He tried to say something, to express his feelings somehow, but he was struggling to think in words; All that came out were panicked, high-pitched whimpers.

“I know,” Yuugi said gently, reassuringly. “It’s ok. You’re ok. Just… breathe, ok? Nice and slow, like me. Come on.”

Atem took one shaky, halting breath, and then another, and another and another-

“I-I can’t,” he gasped in a panic as he failed Yuugi’s instructions. “I-I-I can’t, I can’t, I- I-I-”

“Just try your best,” Yuugi told him, quickly interrupting. “It’s ok if you can’t get it right away. Just try your best, ok? Please? Come on, we can do it together.”

Somehow, even as his mind felt like it was shutting down, Atem’s instinct to please Yuugi managed to win out over everything. He didn’t know how he managed it, but somehow, his ragged hyperventilating gradually slowed to a more even, calm pace, almost in sync with Yuugi. As he calmed down, the violent instinct to retreat into his own mind gradually faded; He became more aware of the room around him, quietly taking note of the creamy white walls, the gentle sunlight bouncing off of them, the rich purple of his cape draped over his legs like a blanket (though he wasn’t sure how it had gotten there). Yuugi’s face, watching him closely with worried yet protective eyes, sitting as close as he could get while still being careful to respect Atem’s boundaries.

“Better now?”

Atem gave a small nod. “Y-Yeah. Thanks. Sorry,” he replied weakly.

Yuugi smiled. “It’s ok, you don’t have to apologize. I’m just glad you’re ok.”

Atem sighed softly, and leaned back against the pillows. His body felt heavy, and his mind foggy, yet somehow… He couldn’t find it in him to care much.

“How are you feeling now?” Yuugi asked, almost as if he’d read Atem’s mind.

Atem paused for a moment, brow furrowing in confusion as he tried to figure out what the answer to that question was.

“...Dunno,” he muttered after a moment.

“Well you look really tired,” Yuugi observed. “And you must be, poor thing… You’ve had a long day, and I know panic attacks can really wear a person out.”

Atem nodded slowly, thinking about this. “Tired, huh… Yeah, I think that sounds right,” he decided. “Hey, where’s grandpa?” he wondered, realizing he was no longer in the room.

“I think he went to get you a glass of water,” Yuugi answered. “It’d be bad for you to get dehydrated, after all.”

Atem nodded, and sighed once again. He said nothing more; He didn’t have anything else to say, at least nothing that wouldn’t lead him back down upsetting roads, and he just wanted to rest now. He let himself sink into the pillows, wishing he could sink far enough to just melt away.

“...It’s hard because it doesn’t stop,” he muttered quietly.

Yuugi looked up at Atem curiously. “Hmm?”

“When I was… with you…” Atem sighed. “I always had an escape route, you know? I didn’t have to deal with everything all the time, and I didn’t have to bother anyone… I could just not exist if I didn’t have something I needed to do. Now, though…” He frowned, shaking his head and glancing down at his body. “I can’t just disappear no matter how much I want to.”

Yuugi chewed his lip, watching Atem worriedly. He could feel his heart break a little at Atem’s confession; It hurt him, knowing that after only a few hours, just being alive was difficult enough to make Atem want to run away and hide. On top of that, he could see clear guilt in Atem’s eyes, and that made him… Angry. No one should  _ ever _ have had to feel guilty for being alive, and Yuugi made a mental note to give his grandfather a serious chewing out later.

“I’m sorry, Other Me. I’d switch with you if I could,” he told Atem, giving him a sympathetic look. “But hey, it’s only the first day, right? I know it’s a lot to take in right now, but I’m sure you’ll start to feel better as you get used to things.”

Atem nodded slowly. “Yeah… I guess so.”

“And, listen… I don’t want you to feel bad about this, alright?” Yuugi continued. “You haven’t done anything wrong. You should never feel guilty for existing. Not ever,” he insisted, looking at Atem with serious, determined eyes.

Somehow, Atem found himself shrinking back slightly under Yuugi’s gaze, unconsciously looking away yet again. “I… I know it’s not my fault, but- Grandpa’s right, I-”

Before Atem could continue, the door slowly creaked open. Atem and Yuugi saw Grandpa peek hesitantly into the room, and then smile upon seeing them, opening the door fully and shutting it behind him as he entered.

“I’m glad to see you’re doing a little better,” he told Atem gently. “Here, have some water. It’ll help.”

Atem blinked as he took the plastic cup that was offered to him- For lack of knowing what else to do. He held it in both hands and stared at it with a forlorn, confused look.

In theory, he knew he was supposed to drink it. In theory, he knew _ how _ to drink it. But the concept of actually  _ doing  _ so…

“Drink it slowly,” Yuugi advised.

Atem nodded, and with shaking arms, he hesitantly brought the cup to his lips; He tipped it back slowly, carefully… Perhaps a bit too slowly and carefully, as nothing came out at first. He frowned, and hesi-

He nearly dropped the cup in surprise as the water suddenly splashed against his lips without warning. A few drops spilled onto his chin and his lap- Cold, wet, feeling like a spider on his skin as it dripped downwards- But he fought hard to stay put, and managed to maintain his grip on the cup. The moment he opened his mouth even the slightest bit, all the water rushed in, cold and heavy and  _ present  _ as it filled the inside of his mouth at lightning speed; He recoiled slightly, eyes widening in shock and then narrowing again as his whole face scrunched up in distaste.

He swallowed the water as quickly as he could, shuddering as he felt it slide down his throat, and then gasped for breath. (And then, of course, immediately remembered that you’re supposed to breathe through your nose when you drink, and subsequently felt like an idiot.)

Atem shook his head as if to shake off the experience, and then suddenly noticed Yuugi watching him and snickering quietly.

“What?” he muttered, raising an eyebrow at Yuugi.

“You make such funny faces,” Yuugi laughed. “I’m glad the water didn’t freak you out too much, though. See? You’re doing better already!” he observed cheerfully.

Atem gave a thoughtful hum, staring down at the cup of water and contemplating this. It occurred to him that despite his initial surprise, somehow… It didn’t really feel  _ bad, _ he realized. He wasn’t sure if it necessarily felt  _ good, _ but it didn’t feel bad, and that… That was a step up from everything else he’d experienced so far.

He cautiously took another sip, and within seconds he’d guzzled the entire thing.

This time, it was Grandpa who laughed. “Thirsty, are we?”

“...I guess,” Atem replied, frowning in confusion; Was he thirsty? He didn’t know. He didn’t know what thirsty felt like.

“I’m sorry I upset you earlier. I suppose I jumped the gun a little bit with that conversation,” Grandpa admitted, giving Atem an apologetic look.

“Yeah, you did,” Yuugi grumbled under his breath, just barely loud enough for Atem to hear.

Atem’s expression fell, a clear sadness in his eyes that both worried and angered Yuugi. “It’s ok. I’m really sorry for all the trouble I’m causing you,” he said quietly.

Grandpa shook his head. “Oh, no you don’t! I don’t want to hear any apologies from you. You’ve done nothing wrong,” he insisted. “You just work on getting better, and don’t worry about anything else, alright?”

“But-”

“Shh! No ‘but’s!”

Atem blinked in surprise, feeling slightly stunned.

“Oh… um… Ok then,” he replied blankly. “If… If I can’t apologize, then… Can I at least say thank you?”

Grandpa nodded. “Of course.”

“Then… Thank you both very much, for everything,” Atem said sincerely, lowering his head with eyes closed- the closest he could get to a bow while sitting in bed. “It means more to me than I can say.”

“You’re very welcome, my dear,” Grandpa replied with a gentle smile. 

The room remained peacefully quiet for a moment or two, until Grandpa stood up again.

“I’m going now. There’s some things I still have to talk to the Ishtars about,” he announced. “I’ll see you two again later. If you need anything, come find me,” he added as he headed towards the door.

“Bye, Grandpa!” Yuugi called after him.

“Thank you for the water,” Atem added.

Grandpa smiled and waved briefly before disappearing, shutting the door gently behind him.

And then it was just the two of them again.

For a moment- or maybe several, who knew how much time passed- Yuugi and Atem simply stared at each other, lost in the surreal feeling of looking at each other through different eyes. It wasn’t all that strange for Atem, having spent plenty of time watching Yuugi quietly from outside his body; For Yuugi, however, it hardly felt real.

He stared as if Atem might vanish if he blinked, feeling an indescribable feeling in his chest. He took in every little detail: Atem’s deep copper skin, his messy hair with bangs that stuck up in every direction; His chest and arms underneath his ancient tank top, small and fragile like Yuugi’s own tiny body, yet soft, with just a hint of muscle definition in his arms and shoulders; His round, youthful face, his pierced ears, his lips, his button nose not unlike Yuugi’s own; His eyes, sharp and cat-like yet so young, a little red from tears and strangely bare without any eyeliner, so many emotions shining in his crimson irises.

All of these things made up Yuugi’s Other Self, sitting so delicately in bed and staring right back at Yuugi; Solid, real.  _ Alive. _ Sitting right there with Yuugi, breathing softly, so close Yuugi could almost-

He paused. Hesitated. Swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Hey, um…” he began tentatively, nervously, “Now that you’re feeling a little better… Do you, uh… Do you want to try touching? Just a little bit, we can start small,” he promised.

Atem didn’t answer right away, not quite sure what to say. Part of him wanted to say no, too overwhelmed by every little sensation on his skin, too afraid of encountering yet more strange and terrifying new feelings when he hadn’t even gotten used to the ones that were already present.

But another part of him, the part that felt lost without Yuugi,the part that was so painfully _lonely…_

...Atem gave a small yet resolute nod.

Yuugi paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to start. (Should they hold hands? Would that be too much for Atem? Should he put a hand on his shoulder? Would that be weird? Should he let Atem decide?) Deep down, though, he knew what his instinct was, what felt right, and after a moment’s hesitation, he decided to follow that instinct.

Carefully, slowly, Yuugi moved to sit right next to Atem, just close enough for their shoulders to brush up against each other.

Atem’s breath caught in his throat the moment he felt Yuugi’s skin touch his own. At first, he completely froze up, feeling that same mixture of emotions he’d felt back in the temple- Confusion, recognition, fear, longing- but after a moment, those emotions gave way to just feeling… Right. Of all the strange and unfamiliar new sensations Atem had felt that day, Yuugi’s touch was the first thing that felt definitively  _ nice, _ and he wondered how he’d ever managed to live without it.

“Are you ok?” Yuugi asked, quietly, and Atem could see recognition and wonder in Yuugi’s eyes, too.

Atem nodded wordlessly.

Yuugi took a deep, shaky breath. “Can I-”

“Yes,” Atem found himself blurting out, before Yuugi could even finish his question. “Anything. Please.”

Yuugi slowly brought a trembling hand up to Atem’s face, brushing it against his cheek so very gently. His heart skipped a beat as he felt it; Atem’s skin was baby smooth, warm and soft and just a little bit sweaty but Yuugi didn’t mind- He was  _ alive, _ he was real and right there with Yuugi, he was perfect. He watched the wide-eyed look Atem gave as he gently caressed his cheek; Yuugi had scarcely ever seen someone look so soft, so very vulnerable, and he felt his heart swell with the need to keep him safe.

He wondered if this was how Atem had felt during those first few months, back when he’d done such terrible things for the sake of protecting Yuugi; Yuugi himself would never go to such lengths (and he was sure Atem wouldn’t anymore, either), but now he-

Yuugi blinked in surprise as Atem suddenly reached up and grabbed his hand, clutching it in both of his own.

Atem held Yuugi’s hand tight, pulling it close, cradling it against his cheek and nuzzling it tenderly; Yuugi’s warm, gentle touch was an oasis after three thousand years of desert, and he clung to it like an anchor, holding Yuugi’s hand so tight his knuckles turned white. Everything seemed to suddenly come rushing back, three thousand years’ worth of memories of cold isolation, with Yuugi now the only thing keeping him from drowning in the pain. He felt like he couldn’t possibly hold him tight enough.

He hadn’t known how much he needed this- All those years, he’d never known what it felt like to be touched, never known what it was like to feel the warmth of another person… Now that he did, suddenly he wanted nothing more than to be held.

Yuugi could see it in his eyes, and no more words were needed. He pulled Atem in close, and Atem practically melted in his arms, resting his head against Yuugi’s shoulder and sighing deeply.

For the first time that day, the eerie silence in Yuugi’s head didn’t bother him. In fact, it almost seemed as if it wasn’t even there at all; Atem’s presence seemed to fill a void somewhere deep in the core of Yuugi’s very being, and for the first time in his life, he truly understood who he really was.

One soul in two bodies.

“I’m so sorry I left you alone for so long,” Yuugi whispered, holding Atem more protectively than he’d ever held anything before.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Atem answered quietly, burying his face a little closer against Yuugi’s collarbone. “Just… glad it’s over.”

Yuugi nodded, and held Atem even tighter, rubbing his back comfortingly in slow circles. They stayed there like that, locked together in a tight embrace, content in the experience of just...  _ being.  _ Listening to each other’s breathing, feeling their heartbeats, together and safe in each other’s arms.

Maybe it wasn’t the way things were supposed to be, but it was damn near close.

* * *

Yuugi and Atem had all but fallen asleep when they were suddenly snapped back to reality by a knock on the door. 

“I’ll get it,” Yuugi muttered, and reluctantly pried himself away from Atem, hopping off the bed and heading to the door. The door creaked gently as he poked his head outside. 

“Hey. Uh, your grandpa wanted me to tell you that the ship’s gonna be stopping soon so people can grab dinner,” Jounouchi explained. 

“Oh, ok,” Yuugi replied. “I’ll probably stay here.”

Jounouchi nodded, and leaned awkwardly to one side, sticking his neck out as he tried to peek into the room from over Yuugi.

“Atem’s awake, right? Is he ready to talk to people yet?” he asked- And then paused, blushing as he realized how whiny he sounded. “I’m sorry, I-I don’t mean to be pushy, I know you said we shouldn’t bother him, and I won’t if he’s not ready- But I just-” he fidgeted nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and shifting his balance from one foot to the other and back again. “...You know, I’m like- I’m worried about him, yeah? And I miss him.”

Yuugi gave Jounouchi a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, I get it. Wait here and I’ll ask him, ok?” he suggested.

Jounouchi’s face lit up with excitement at this, and he nodded as Yuugi turned back around. 

“It’s Jounouchi-kun,” he informed Atem. “He wants to know if he can come in and talk to you.”

Atem paused to think about it for a moment, and then nodded. “Sure, as long as he’s not too loud. I know how he can get sometimes.”

Yuugi gave Atem a thumbs-up and a smile, turning back around to relay this information to Jounouchi.

“He says yes, but you have to stay quiet, ok? He’s really sensitive to noise,” he explained as he opened the door. 

Atem gave a smile and a weak wave as Jounouchi entered the room. Jounouchi grinned, a clear look of relief washing over his face; He quickly sat down in the chair, pulling it closer to the Atem. (Yuugi, meanwhile, sat down at the foot of the bed.)

“Hey Atem! How are you feeling?” he asked, being careful to keep his voice down. 

Atem blinked- Still not entirely used to being called by his own name- And shrugged. “Could be better, could be worse, I suppose,” he decided. “How are you?”

“Eh, I’m alright,” Jounouchi replied. “Glad to see you’re awake! You had us really worried for a bit there,” he added with a slight nervous laugh. 

Atem frowned guiltily. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Jounouchi told him, shaking his head. “And… Hey… I’m really sorry about earlier,” he added, both his face and his voice taking on a more serious, solemn tone. “I really didn’t mean to freak you out. I didn’t know you don’t like to be touched, but now that I know, it won’t happen again,” he promised. 

Atem gave Jounouchi a reassuring smile. “It’s alright. I know you didn’t mean it,” he said gently. “To be honest, it’s not so much that I didn’t like it, it’s just… That was the first time anyone’s touched me in- Well, ever, technically,” he realized, raising an eyebrow slightly in surprise. “I guess after three thousand years without a body, it was a bit of a-”

_ “What?!” _

Atem winced at Jounouchi’s outburst, even as Yuugi quickly shushed him. “N-Not so loud, please…”

“Shit, sorry, I-  _ Three thousand years?!”  _ Jounouchi blurted out with wide eyes, his voice coming out as a sharp whisper in his attempt to stay quiet. “Nobody’s touched you in that long?!”

Atem averted his gaze, shrinking in on himself slightly, feeling… Ashamed, though he didn’t know why.

“Not unless you count while I was sharing with Yuugi… And even then, it wasn’t much. And it wasn’t the same.”

Jounouchi’s face was white with sheer horror, looking far more distressed about the situation than Atem himself currently did. “Holy shit… That’s so fucked up,” he gasped. “Like- Shit, dude, I read a magazine article once that said that babies can literally die if you don’t hold them enough-”

Atem’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Are you calling me a baby?”

“No!” Jounouchi replied quickly, laughing just a little bit before his expression grew worried again. “But seriously, bro… Are you ok?”

Atem hesitated for a moment before answering, biting his lip. 

“No, I’m really not. But… I would like to try to be, someday,” he said quietly. 

(He shared a glance briefly with Yuugi, who said nothing, but the look of quiet understanding and support on his face was more than enough.)

“I’ll help,” Jounouchi suddenly blurted out. “Anything I can do to help you, I’ll do it. And I’m sure the others will, too,” he promised, leaning in slightly and looking at Atem with an expression of wide-eyed commitment.

Atem blinked in surprise, not sure what to say. “Y-You don’t… You don’t have to do that…”

“I know that! But I want to,” Jounouchi insisted. “You’re my friend, and I care about you. I want you to be happy. If you’re having a hard time, then I’m going to help however I can, because that’s what friends do and I don’t like it when my friends feel bad.”

“Jounouchi-kun’s right,” Yuugi interrupted, the first thing he’d said throughout the whole conversation. “There are a lot of people who love you. You’re not alone in this.”

“Oh,” Atem said quietly, and his mouth felt strangely dry. “Well… Thank you, then.”

He found himself to be at something of a loss for words; He knew he had wonderful friends who cared about him, and had always gone above and beyond to support him, but… Somehow, though he hadn’t quite thought about it at first, he now realized that he’d been worried about how his friends would react now that he wasn’t just “The Other Yuugi.” They’d known for a long time that he was his own person, of course, but seeing it,  _ living _ it was a different thing entirely, and perhaps he’d had a bit more anxiety about it than he’d fully realized. 

“Hey… Um… Is it ok if I give you a hug?” Jounouchi asked hesitantly, breaking Atem’s train of thought. 

Atem took a moment to think about it; He wanted to say yes, but somehow at the moment, the thought of  _ that _ much physical contact sounded quite unpleasant.

“...How about we hold hands instead?” he suggested, with a small, reassuring smile. 

Jounouchi nodded, and slowly took Atem’s hand with ever so much gentleness, such care and caution, as if it were the most delicate thing in the world. Once he had it, though, he held tight.

Atem took a sharp breath of surprise, the feeling still almost as new and unknown as it been in that first moment.

He brushed his thumb over Jounouchi’s hand experimentally; Jounouchi’s touch felt different from Yuugi’s, somehow, though Atem wasn’t sure why. Somehow it felt strong, safe, protective; Jounouchi had always been fiercely protective of his friends, and had a certain aura as an older brother, even to his peers. He was silly, and hotheaded, and sometimes a little bit of an idiot, but when it counted? Atem knew Jounouchi would crawl through a river of blood to keep his friends safe.

Atem loved Jounouchi- and all of his friends- more than words could say. So he said nothing, and instead squeezed Jounouchi’s hand, hoping he’d get the message. 

Jounouchi smiled, and squeezed back.

For a few minutes, they simply stayed there in silence, as Atem tried to get used to the feeling of… Well, feeling. As usual, though, Jounouchi didn’t really have the patience to go very long without talking- Though Atem didn’t mind.

“So… Are you two really the same person? How the hell does that work?” Jounouchi wondered curiously.

“It’s probably more accurate to say we were the same person, technically,” Yuugi answered. “We got split. Right?”

“Right,” Atem confirmed.

“Man, that is freaky,” Jounouchi commented, raising both eyebrows and shaking his head in disbelief. “Is that, like, safe? Like are you two ok?”

Yuugi and Atem glanced at each other, and then shrugged.

“I mean, I’ve been alive for seventeen years now, and I feel fine,” Yuugi replied. 

“I honestly have no idea if I’m ok or not,” Atem admitted. “But Yuugi says I’m probably not dying, so.”

Jounouchi nodded, but continued looking at Yuugi and Atem curiously, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Man, there’s  _ gotta _ be some freaky side effects to that, though.”

“You mean like trauma and depression?” Yuugi deadpanned. 

Jounouchi blinked awkwardly. “I kinda meant more like telepathy or something, but… I guess?”

“I don’t feel particularly telepathic, tragically,” Atem replied, shaking his head in half-joking disappointment. 

“Hold on. You don’t know until you try,” Jounouchi pointed out, raising an eyebrow in curiousity. “Yuugi, try thinking of something. Atem, tell me what he’s thinking about.”

“...Uh, sure?” Yuugi said with a confused frown. 

Atem paused, trying to focus, to see if anything came to mind.

“He’s thinking about… Dark Magician,” he decided.

“Yup!” Yuugi confirmed with a nod. 

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. “Come on, pick something less obvious!”

“Ok, ok!” Yuugi huffed. “Let’s see… um… Try now.”

“Uh… You’re thinking about… Zelda.”

“Nope, I was thinking about that one Shonen Knife song about cats in space.”

Atem and Jounouchi both sighed in disappointment.

Jounouchi shook his head, deciding to forget about the tragedy, and moved onto the next subject. “Man, it sure is convenient that you got to keep your clothes, huh?”

“It would have been awkward if I’d been naked,” Atem pointed out with a laugh. “I mean, I wouldn’t care, but I’m sure everyone else would.”

“What, you mean it wouldn’t have bothered you?” Jounouchi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Atem shook his head. “Nah. Nudity wasn’t nearly as taboo in ancient Egypt as it is now. I mean, it _ was _ a desert country in an age before air conditioning,” he pointed out. “Honestly, some of the things we wore would probably barely even qualify as clothes by modern standards.”

“Fair enough, I guess,” Jounouchi conceded with a shrug.

“I’m just impressed you got to keep all that stuff,” Yuugi added in, gesturing to the pile of jewelry on the table with a look of mild concern. “I think you may have just broken conservation of mass.”

Atem blinked innocently at Yuugi. “Why wouldn’t I get to keep my jewelry?”

Yuugi raised an eyebrow at this, but before he could say anything else, a knock came on the door. A few seconds later, the door was slowly, cautiously opened. 

“Dinner time,” Rishid said quietly as he peeked into the room.

Jounouchi suddenly leapt up, giving an energetic fistpump in lieu of shouting. “Sorry, Atem- I love you and all, but not as much as I love food,” he decided.

“That’s alright, I understand. I wouldn’t want to come between you,” Atem teased, smiling knowingly.

“Are you two coming for dinner?” Rishid asked Yuugi and Atem, as Jounouchi ran past him out the door. “If you’d prefer to stay here, that’s perfectly fine.”

Yuugi and Atem exchanged questioning glances. 

“...I don’t think I’m really… ready to go outside,” Atem admitted quietly. 

Yuugi nodded. “We’ll stay here,” he told Rishid. 

“Alright. I’ll bring you back something, then,” Rishid promised.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Rishid smiled in acknowledgement. “Is there anything specific you’d like?”

Yuugi frowned thoughtfully. “Um… I don’t know a ton about Egyptian food, to be honest, so… Surprise me,” he decided with a shrug. “Atem, is there anything you want?”

Atem went quiet for a surprisingly long time, a blank expression on his face. 

“I have no idea,” he finally realized. 

Rishid raised an eyebrow. “Um, ok… Well, I’ll… Try to pick something you’ll hopefully enjoy,” he assured them, somewhat confusedly. “I’ll see you in a little while.”

“Bye, thank you!” Yuugi called out as Rishid left the room. 

With that, things became quiet again. Atem sighed, and leaned back against the pillow, suddenly feeling a bit tired. 

* * *

About half an hour had passed by the time Rishid returned, carrying a brown paper bag held on its side, and a drink tray on top of it. 

“Since you said to surprise you, I got kushari,” he explained as he put the bag and the tray down on the table. “It’s rice, macaroni, lentils, fried onions, and some other vegetables. A very common dish here in Egypt. I hope you enjoy it,” he added with a smile. 

“Thank you very much,” Yuugi replied with a slight bow. “I hope so too!”

Rishid smiled again as he ducked out of the room. He suddenly paused just before the door closed, and stuck his head back inside. 

“Oh, by the way. Your grandfather asked me to remind you to call Kaiba,” he told them.

“Oh, right. Thanks,” Yuugi replied. 

Rishid nodded, and closed the door for good. 

Yuugi didn’t waste any time in dragging his chair back to the table, his mouth watering and his stomach rumbling at the smell of fresh food. He began eagerly unsealing the bag, taking out two sealed foil takeout containers and two plastic-wrapped slices of pita bread, along with two forks and some napkins.

“Mm, smells good. Looks good, too,” he commented as he opened the takeout containers, releasing a cloud of steam.

The moment Yuugi opened the containers, the smell hit Atem like a freight train, causing his eyes to water and his nose to tickle. His whole face scrunched up in in discomfort at the experience. He honestly wasn’t sure what to make of the smell; Perhaps it did smell good, perhaps even a bit familiar somehow, but mostly it just  _ smelled,  _ and he froze up like a slow computer as his brain and his nose tried to process this. 

“Everything ok?” Yuugi asked worriedly, bringing Atem back to reality. 

“Y-Yeah,” Atem gasped in response, cautiously opening his eyes. “Yeah, I- It’s just- Strong smell,” he stammered, waving his hand in front of his nose to try to shoo the smell away. 

Yuugi gave Atem a sympathetic look. “Sorry. I’ll open the window,” he promised, and reached up to do so. “Anyway, why don’t you come sit down at the table?”

Atem nodded- And then paused, realizing that this meant he would, inevitably, have to stand up. He took a moment to think about this, almost as if unconsciously trying to figure out the logistics of the act. 

After a while, he slowly, cautiously swung one leg over to the side of the bed with awkward, jittering motions. He flinched slightly in surprise as his foot hit the floor, but nonetheless followed with his other leg, sitting up a bit more as he did so. He turned so he was facing the edge of the bed, and- slowly, clumsily, with trembling arms- carefully pushed himself up off the bed. He stumbled, nearly falling over, but managed to find his way to a standing position.

Walking, surprisingly, seemed to be the one thing so far that wasn’t difficult, and it didn’t take long for Atem to find his way to the table. He slid onto the couch across from Yuugi, noting how different it felt from the bed; It was much firmer, and not as soft to the touch. The air around the table was warm, humid, and a little bit breezy, with the sounds of water and voices floating through the window and mingling with the smell of the kushari.

“Wow, Rishid was right. This  _ is _ really good,” Yuugi commented with enthusiasm, as he scooped another generous helping onto his fork.

As Yuugi ate, Atem stared forlornly at the container in front of him, not sure what to make of it; He must have been hungry, he thought, from the way his stomach seemed to grumble, and the food didn’t look bad- But it smelled  _ so _ strongly, and he could hardly remember what eating was like. (He hadn’t done much of it while in Yuugi’s body, save for that one time Mokuba had tried to poison them, which he only kind of vaguely remembered anyway.)

Still, nothing to do but try it, he thought. And so, he picked up his fork- fumbling a few times before finding the right grip- and scooped some kushari out of the bowl and-

Atem recoiled slightly as the food hit his tongue, suddenly so much to take in all at once. It was hot, and oily, and solid, and squishy, and it had so much smell and so much flavor, none of which he knew how to put a name to. There were  _ so many _ things, all touching his mouth at once- He chewed once, twice, and then something crunched and squished and squeaked under his teeth, and his whole mouth seemed to shiver as his body immediately tried to reject this horror. The whole ordeal felt so awful, he may as well have been eating mud.

He barely managed to grab a napkin and shove it against his face before he gagged. He crumpled up the napkin and immediately grabbed his drink- But it wasn’t water, as he expected, but soda, and he nearly spit that out too, surprised by the sweetness so intense it was almost sour and the needle-like carbonation. He gasped for breath, shaking and sweating and scared, feeling for all the world like he’d just been nearly drowned.

He noticed Yuugi staring at him with wide-eyed concern, and blushed in embarrassment. 

“I’m sorry, I- I don’t think I like it,” he apologized, still shaking slightly. “I don’t know why I- I-I didn’t mean to- I’m sorry,” he stammered, feeling so ashamed he could cry. What was wrong with him, spitting out his food like that? He was glad no one other than Yuugi was around, but even still…

Yuugi put a hand on Atem’s shoulder in reassurance. “Hey, it’s ok,” he promised. “I know it’s hard. I’m sorry you don’t like it. But you do need to eat, so why don’t you wait a little while and then try again, ok?” he suggested gently.

Atem nodded, but said nothing. He curled in on himself, keeping his gaze directed at the floor, still feeling so overwhelmed: Physically, by the taste and texture and smell of the kushari (the inside of his mouth still seemed to tremble slightly at the lingering taste), and emotionally, by embarrassment. For not the first time that day, he found himself wishing he could disappear.

Yuugi bit his lip as he saw the sad, defeated look on Atem’s face, and the fear and shame in his posture. Without even thinking about it, Yuugi stood up and walked around to the other side of the table, wrapping his arms around Atem protectively.

“It’s ok,” he whispered gently, rubbing a hand along Atem’s back in slow circles. “I know you’re trying your best. I’m not judging you, I promise.”

Atem sighed, and leaned into Yuugi’s touch. “I didn’t expect everything to be this hard,” he muttered quietly.

Yuugi nodded. “I know. Don’t overwork yourself. It’s only your first day, you don’t have to get everything right immediately,” he assured him.

“I know, but… I… I feel stupid,” Atem confessed, wrapping an arm around Yuugi’s side. “I feel like a goddamn baby. I’m seventeen- or something, I guess- I shouldn’t be getting so freaked out by every little thing, it shouldn’t all be this new and confusing,” he sighed.

“Yeah, but you’ve never really had a physical body before,” Yuugi pointed out.  _ “Mentally _ you might be seventeen, sure, but your body doesn’t have that much life experience. Of course everything’s overwhelming. Anyone else your age would have had years to get used to being alive, but you haven’t, so it’s not fair to expect you to be on par with everyone else,” he argued. “Please, don’t be so hard on yourself. You don’t deserve that.”

Atem gave a half-hearted hum of acknowledgement. Yuugi frowned at this response; He wished he knew what to say to get Atem to forgive himself.

“Hey, listen. Nobody’s judging you for this,” he insisted. “Our friends aren’t like that- And neither is grandpa, for that matter. You don’t have anything to worry about, I promise.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re probably right,” Atem sighed. “Sorry for... being so anxious. Thanks for putting up with me.”

“I’m not ‘putting up with you’, silly,” Yuugi replied, shaking his head. “I’m helping because I love you. And besides, I worry about a lot of things too, so I understand,” he added.

Atem smiled, just a little bit. “Right. Thanks.”

They stayed quiet for a few more minutes, before Yuugi slowly, reluctantly pulled himself away from Atem.

“Sorry, but I want to finish my food before it gets cold,” he laughed, tilting his head apologetically towards Atem as he sat down. “Do you want to try eating again, or are you not ready yet?”

“I… I think I can try it,” Atem decided tentatively, with a slow nod. 

He picked up a small forkful of kushari, and stared at it for a moment, reluctant to actually eat it; With the memory of what happened last time, the small, innocent pile of rice and vegetables felt almost threatening. Despite being quite confident that kushari was, in reality, probably actually quite good (it had to be- it was Egyptian food, and everything in it sounded good individually), Atem couldn’t help but recall a... certain scene from a certain kids’ movie.

Hakuna matata, he thought to himself as he placed the fork in his mouth.

This attempt felt almost worse than the last- Now that his brain knew what to expect, it tried to reject the source of distress immediately. Atem clamped a hand over his mouth and jaw, biting his tongue as he forced himself to chew and swallow; Each fraction of a second was pure agony, like nails on a wet, mushy chalkboard, and he gagged hard against his hand no less than three times before he finally managed to swallow, not even sure he’d chewed entirely thoroughly. He gasped for breath the second the food was down, panting as his mouth and throat convulsed violently.

“I-I can’t do this,” he blurted out in a hysterical whimper, pushing the container of kushari away from himself as if to escape. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I really tried but I- I can’t- I don’t _ like _ food,” he finished, and buried his face in his hands as he suddenly found himself breaking down into tears.

“It’s ok, I know you did your best,” Yuugi told him gently, reaching over to rub his shoulder comfortingly. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I’m proud of you for trying anyway.”

Atem curled up into a ball, pulling his feet up onto the couch as he continued to sob into his hands. He could still feel the lingering feeling of the kushari’s texture and taste, as if it were still in his mouth; He swallowed a few times to make it go away, but it remained. Taunting him, making it impossible for him to feel comfortable. He felt his stomach threaten to throw up, and he swallowed several times in a desperate attempt to stop it; The nausea made his mouth fill with saliva almost faster than he could swallow. He felt absolutely terrified, and sick, and so very uncomfortable, and the sheer horror made him cry even harder.

“Do you want a glass of water?” Yuugi asked, almost as if he’d read Atem’s mind.

Atem gave a shaky nod, and a whimper of confirmation.

Yuugi frowned worriedly, giving Atem one last affectionate, comforting pat on the head before leaving in search of water.

* * *

It didn’t take long for Yuugi to find a water cooler. He filled up two plastic cups: A cold one for himself, and a room temperature cup for Atem, not wanting to startle him with any extreme temperatures. He hurried back, having realized that he probably shouldn’t leave Atem alone for too long- And then just barely avoided crashing right into Anzu in his haste. 

“Oh, sorry Anzu!” He apologized quickly as he stumbled backwards slightly.

“Yuugi!” Anzu exclaimed in surprise. “How are you? We missed you at dinner.”

“I missed you guys too,” Yuugi replied. “I’m alright, though.”

“How’s Atem doing?”

Yuugi frowned slightly, his voice dropping to a quieter tone as he answered. “He’s… Having a really hard time adjusting to everything,” he admitted. “And he’s embarrassed. I think he’s angry at himself. I keep trying to tell him it’s ok, but…” he frowned, biting his lip. “I don’t know if he believes me.”

Anzu frowned worriedly. “Poor Atem… Jounouchi told me what happened in the temple, too. I feel so bad for him…”

“Yeah, me too,” Yuugi sighed.

“Is there… Anything I can do to help, you think?”

Yuugi gave a half-hearted shrug. “I don’t know.”

“Is he ok to see people? Maybe it might cheer him up to have some company,” Anzu suggested.

Yuugi perked up slightly at this idea. “Oh, maybe! I don’t think now is a good time, though,” he said with an apologetic frown. “Maybe later?”

“Alright, I’ll come by later then,” Anzu decided with a nod.

Yuugi smiled. “Great! See you later, then. I’m gonna head back.”

“Alright.” Anzu gave a friendly wave. “See you later, Yuugi.”

* * *

Atem stayed where he was for a while after Yuugi left, fighting hard just to get his breathing under control and keep from throwing up. Eventually, when his sobs had slowed to quiet whimpers, he dragged himself off the bench and back to the bed. He collapsed onto it, curling up on his side; Despite having only been conscious for a few hours, he was exhausted.

The more time went by, the more he began to regret saying yes to a glass of water- Because for Yuugi to bring him water, Yuugi would first have to  _ leave,  _ and Atem did not like that. It was sad, he thought, just how dependant on Yuugi he’d become; Then again, he supposed, he had never been without before. At least, not since…

Atem shuddered slightly, and swallowed as he tried to remind himself that Yuugi wouldn’t be gone for much longer than a few minutes. And besides, he really did want some water; His mouth felt horribly unpleasant. The taste of the kushari lingered in his mouth, thick and spicy, along with the texture, gooey and grainy and full of bits of things. On top of that was the soda, sticky and sour and tingly on his teeth. No matter how many times he swallowed, they remained, making every moment so agonizing he wanted to tear his tongue out to make it stop.

He lay there in misery for what felt like hours, until finally he heard the door open.

“Hey, sorry I took so long,” Yuugi said softly, smiling as he handed Atem his water.

Atem wasted no time in guzzling the glass, swishing the water around in his mouth to wash away any last remnant of dinner. Thankfully, the nausea seemed to disappear along with it.

“Better?” Yuugi asked as Atem continued to chug water like there was no tomorrow.

Atem nodded silently, tilting the cup all the way up to get the very last drop. He tossed the empty cup onto the table, took a deep breath, and flopped back down onto the bed, exhausted.

Yuugi sat down on the edge of the bed, watching Atem with a mix of relief, concern, and sympathy.

“Anzu was asking about you,” he told Atem, stroking his hair comfortingly. “She wants to come see you. I told her you’re not feeling well, so she’s going to drop by later. Is that ok?”

Atem paused for a moment to think about it. (He sighed contentedly; The way Yuugi played with his hair felt nice, which was a welcome relief from everything else he’d experienced.) “I’d like that.”

Yuugi grinned. “Great! I’m sure the others miss you, too. I don’t want to overwhelm you, though.”

“Yeah, I know,” Atem replied, frowning slightly. “I miss them too, but… I don’t know. They’re loud.”

“Yeah, I understand. And I’m sure they do, too,” Yuugi added with a nod. “At least now that you’re staying, there’ll be plenty of time to- Oh!” he suddenly gasped. “I almost forgot! We need to call Kaiba.”

Atem grimaced slightly at the thought. “I’m sure  _ that’ll _ be a pleasant conversation,” he muttered sarcastically.

“I know, but we don’t really have a choice,” Yuugi sighed. “Better to get it over with now. The longer we put it off, the longer we’ll have to stay in Cairo.”

Atem gave a reluctant nod, and sat up, watching Yuugi take out his cell phone. As the phone quietly rang, Atem fidgeted slightly, adjusting the way his shendyt lay against his thighs; Somehow, the feeling of the pleats bothered him, though he couldn’t seem to get comfortable no matter how he shifted the fabric. He soon forgot about it as he turned his attention towards Yuugi, listening intently the moment he heard Kaiba pick up.

_ “What.” _

Yuugi blinked, surprised by such a rude answer- But held his tongue, silently reminding himself that arguing with Kaiba would only make him more fickle.

“Um… Hi, Kaiba-kun,” he began hesitantly. “Listen, um, I hate to ask this, but-”

_ “Where the hell is the other one?”  _ Kaiba interrupted in irritation.  _ “And do you have any idea what fucking time it is?” _

“We have names, you know,” Yuugi blurted out, forgetting all attempts to pretend to be polite. “Anyway, he’s awake now, and also yes I do know what time it is and you have no right to complain, given that you called me about 45 minutes ago.”

_ “Well I wasn’t sleeping 45 minutes ago, so there,”  _ Kaiba retorted.  _ “Now let me speak to Atem.” _

Yuugi rolled his eyes, and silently handed the phone to Atem, giving him a look of dry sympathy.

Atem winced in disdain as he answered the phone, taking a deep breath of hesitation before speaking. “Hello..?”

_ “What the hell did you do?” _

“I didn’t ‘do’ anything,” Atem replied, frowning in confusion.

_ “Obviously you did,”  _ Kaiba insisted.

Atem raised an eyebrow at this response. “What do you mean, obviously? Kaiba, did something happen?” he asked, his voice taking on a more serious tone as he began to feel a slight sense of dread. (Yuugi leaned in to listen, putting his head next to Atem’s.)

_ “Look, just answer the damn question.” _

Atem sighed. “Do you want the real, honest answer?”

_ “No, I want you to make something up, I just love asking questions and not getting an answer,”  _ Kaiba replied, with no small amount of his trademark sarcasm.  _ “Spit it out already, dumbass.” _

Atem took a deep breath before answering. 

“I got kicked out of the afterlife.”

_ “...What.” _

“I got kicked out,” Atem repeated simply. “You know how Yuugi was supposed to beat me in a duel so I could pass on to the afterlife because something something swords, or some bizarro metaphor like that?”

_ “Vaguely,”  _ Kaiba confirmed. 

“Yeah, well, we did that, and uh… Turns out I only have half a soul. That’s why Yuugi and I even exist in the first place- Three thousand years ago-”

_ “Yeah, yeah, I know that part, get to the damn point already,”  _ Kaiba interrupted, impatience clear in his voice.

Atem blinked in confusion, surprised to hear this. “Oh… Well, uh… Anyway, I was told- and I quote- ‘Come back when you’re in one piece’. Then I got kicked right back out the actual, literal, physical door, and wound up back where I started, with a physical body and some clothes and nothing else.” Atem shrugged as he finished his explanation.

Kaiba went quiet for a moment. 

_ “...That’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard,”  _ Kaiba sighed after a moment.

“Ok, well, it wasn’t my idea, so… Take it up with Anubis, I guess,” Atem replied, shrugging once again. “On that note… I don’t like this any more than you do, I’m sure, but… We need to ask you for a favor,” he began hesitantly.

_ “Oh, joy,”  _ Kaiba grumbled.  _ “What is it?” _

“Atem doesn’t have any legal papers,” Yuugi answered for him. “Obviously he doesn’t have a birth certificate or any family records or anything, and you can’t get from Egypt to Japan without a passport, so…”

Kaiba sighed.  _ “So let me get this straight. You two ran off to a foreign country, somehow magicked a person into existence-” _

“I told you, it wasn’t my idea!” Atem interrupted.

_ “-And now you come whining to me, expecting me to spend time, money, and effort to get you illegally obtained, falsified documents?” _

“...Yes?” Yuugi answered awkwardly.

_ “Give me one good reason why I should.” _

“Because you owe us,” Atem responded simply, straight to the point.

Kaiba blurted out a short, sharp, taunting laugh. _ “I ‘owe’ you? You’re kidding me, right? What the hell should I ‘owe’ you for?” _

Atem scoffed. “You mean aside from stopping the apocalypse twice?” he pointed out dryly. “Let’s see… There was that time you and Mokuba got your souls stolen by Pegasus…” He counted on his fingers as he spoke.

“There was that time Pegasus’ apprentice almost took over Kaiba Corporation while you were away,” Yuugi added in.

“Oh yeah, forgot about that, that was weird,” Atem recalled with a frown. “Oh, and there was that duel with those mask guys on top of that one building-”

“The fact that honestly Battle City would have ended really badly if we hadn’t managed to defeat the evil Marik-”

“All those times I could have killed you but didn’t, you can thank Yuugi for that-”

“Not to mention all the free publicity we’ve given you.”

Atem heard Kaiba groan in irritation.  _ “Alright, you’ve made your point,”  _ he grumbled.  _ “I’ll do it. When is your birthday? The 26th? 27th?” _

“You can just use Yuu- Wait. How you you know when my birthday is?” Atem wondered.

Kaiba instantly went silent. And suddenly, everything clicked.

“...How much do you remember?” Atem asked, lowering his voice and turning away slightly, though he wasn’t sure why.

_ “I- I don’t know what you’re talking about.” _

“Seto.”

_ “Don’t call me that,”  _ Kaiba said, and it sounded almost more like a plea than an order, a sort of tiredness to his voice that few people had ever heard.

“Please, just… Tell me,” Atem insisted. “How much do you remember?”

Kaiba went quiet for a moment before answering.

_ “Everything, not that it really matters,”  _ he sighed, just barely loud enough to hear.  _ “Expect the papers by Friday. If you don’t have them by then, call me.” _

“Alright, thank- Oh wow, he already hung up,” Atem realized in surprise. He shrugged, closed the phone, and handed it back to Yuugi.

“Does he really remember?” Yuugi asked, as he put his phone back in his pocket.

Atem nodded. “He does. And I don’t think he’s too happy about it.”

“Well, that explains a few things, I guess,” Yuugi sighed, flopping backwards onto the bed. “I just hope this won’t cause any problems.”

Atem nodded, and lay down next to Yuugi. He fidgeted in place for a while, irritated by the wrinkles in the fabric beneath him; After a while, he simply gave up, and reached for Yuugi’s hand with a tired sigh. The warm, soft pressure of Yuugi’s hand was comforting, he found- It gave him something else to focus on.

“Do… Do you remember anything?” he asked quietly after a few minutes.

Yuugi paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as he thought about it.

“...It’s… I don’t really know how to explain it, really,” he admitted, a sort of thoughtful neutrality to his voice. “It’s like… I _ feel  _ like I do, but when I try to actually remember anything…” He shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Oh. Well, that’s… Good, I guess,” Atem decided.

Yuugi frowned slightly. “Why is it good?”

Atem blinked, not quite sure how to answer- He hadn’t really been thinking when he’d spoken, he realized.

“It’s good, because…”

He took a deep breath as he recalled the way things had been before, when they’d been in one piece; All the hell they’d experienced before- Before-

_ Atem screamed until his throat was raw, gathering every ounce of strength he had left to try to keep himself together long enough to finish the incantation. He was already weak from the fight, but his wounds now felt trivial compared to the feeling of forcibly ripping his own soul- his very  _ **_being-_ ** _ into two pieces, jagged and broken and bleeding. It hurt, god it hurt, like nothing had ever hurt any creature before, nor even a god, he was sure; He felt the Millennium Pendant pulling part of him towards it like a dangerous riptide, and the most primal part of him fought against it, desperately struggling to get back to the rest of him- But he knew, on some level, that this was the only way. _

_ He could feel his head, his heart, his  _ **_soul_ ** _ split in two, and for a moment, whatever fragmented consciousness he had left prayed desperately for death, for surely it would hurt less than this- _

_ -And then “he” was no more. _

“...Trust me, you’re… Better off not remembering,” Atem told Yuugi, shuddering and gripping his hand tighter, as if afraid he might lose him again.

Yuugi squeezed back reassuringly, but bit his lip, frowning at this answer. 

“I don’t know, maybe you’re right… I know secondhand what happened, and I know it was awful, but… I mean, it was my  _ life,”  _ he pointed out. “I want to remember, even if it hurts- No, I want to remember  _ because _ it hurts,” he decided. “It’s not fair that I should get to live a normal life, while you have to suffer on your own. It’s cruel. We should be dealing with this together.”

Atem gave a hum of acknowledgement. “I guess I can see where you’re coming from, but I’d rather there be no unnecessary suffering. It’s enough for me to have to deal with this; I wouldn’t want to inflict it on you, too.”

Yuugi sighed. “How about we meet in the middle and say it’s messed up no matter how you split it?” he suggested.

“Heh… ‘Split it’. I get it,” Atem said with a half-hearted chuckle.

Yuugi groaned at the pun.  _ “No.” _

“Hey, you’re the one who said it, not me,” Atem pointed out, feigning innocence.

Before Yuugi could respond, their conversation was interrupted by a strange noise. It took a moment before they realized that the noise was Atem’s stomach.

“Oh, I forgot you didn’t really eat dinner,” Yuugi said, frowning in worry. “That’s no good.”

Atem looked away nervously. “I-I don’t think I can…”

“I know. It’s ok, I’m not going to make you,” Yuugi assured him. “I promise I won’t make you do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

“Thank you,” Atem said quietly.

Yuugi continued to frown, chewing his lip as he tried to think of a solution to the problem at hand.

“...There’s still some pita bread left,” he thought out loud, and then turned towards Atem. “Do you think you could try eating some of that? It doesn’t have as strong a texture or flavor as the other stuff, so it might be easier for you.”

Atem paused for a moment before answering, feeling conflicted; On one hand, the thought of eating anything sounded horribly unpleasant. On the other hand, he knew he needed to eat.

“...I’ll try it,” he decided, nodding slowly. “No guarantees, though.”

“Alright. Just do your best,” Yuugi told him with a reassuring smile. “Do you want me to get you some more water first?”

Atem nodded. “Yes, please.”

“‘Kay. I’ll try not to get sidetracked this time,” Yuugi promised. He stood up, and with one last nod, he ducked out of the room.

Atem watched him leave, and then sighed, bracing himself for the wait. It took several minutes before he realized he’d been staring blankly at the door the whole time, like a puppy waiting for its owner to return home.

Just as he’d come to this realization, by pure chance the door opened.

“Here you go,” Yuugi said, placing the glass of water on the table. “Do you want to come sit? You know, so you don’t get crumbs on the bed,” he suggested.

Atem nodded, and slowly changed seats from the bed to the couch- Though he hesitated a bit less this time. 

He stared silently for a moment at the bread Yuugi had placed in front of him, feeling a sense of dread. The result of his last attempt at eating was still too fresh in his mind, and though he knew this was not the same, he still had to take a moment to remind himself of this fact.

He took a sip of water first, just to calm his nerves, and then took a bite of bread with a feeling like jumping into a cold pool.

True to Yuugi’s word, the bread was quite different from the kushari- Though Atem wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. It was grainy, and chewy, with a heavy taste, and none of the watery squish of the kushari. After a moment, he found that there was something comfortingly familiar with it, bringing back memories of meals from days long gone; Still, chewing took far too long for comfort, and the bread seemed to stick to his teeth and throat like glue.

He ate almost pitifully slowly, taking small bites and long breaks between them. After ten minutes, he’d managed to eat about half of the bread, but his tolerance was rapidly dwindling; He felt himself begin to gag again, at which point he promptly put the bread down.

“Is that all you’re going to eat?” Yuugi asked.

Atem glanced up upon hearing this question. He saw the look on Yuugi’s face- Eyes wide, eyebrows drooping, lips pursed- And suddenly he knew he’d done something very, very bad.

He’d let Yuugi down.

...With slow, violently shaking hands, Atem reached for the half-eaten slice of bread and slowly brought it to his mouth, keeping eye contact with Yuugi the whole time. He said nothing- He couldn’t seem to speak, or even think really, moving as if on autopilot. He knew one thing, and one thing only: He  _ couldn’t  _ disappoint Yuugi. Not for the world.

Yuugi blinked in surprise at Atem’s reaction. What was with that strange expression on his face? He looked sad, almost scared, like a puppy that had just been kicked.

“Wha- H-Hey, no, it’s ok! I didn’t mean it like that, I swear!” Yuugi insisted quickly, shaking his head and waving his hands in denial. “It’s ok, you don’t have to eat any more.”

“No, I- I can- I can... do it,” Atem stammered, though his hands shook so badly he could hardly get the bread to his mouth. His eyes darted rapidly between Yuugi and the bread.

Shaking his head, Yuugi put a hand over Atem’s. “Don’t do this to yourself,” he told him softly, yet sincerely, gently pushing his hand back down. “I told you, you don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with. If that’s all you can eat, that’s all you can eat. Please, don’t push yourself too far.”

“I’m sorry,” Atem blurted out as he put the bread down. “I’m really sorry, I- I never wanted to- to be a- a-a disappointment to you…” He sniffled as his voiced cracked. “I’m trying really hard, I-”

“You’ve  _ never _ disappointed me!” Yuugi gasped, horrified at the thought. Was  _ that  _ why Atem had looked so hurt? “I’m really sorry if I sounded like I was disappointed in you. I’m just a little worried about your health, that’s all- But I have  _ never _ been disappointed, not for a second,” he promised. “I know you’re trying really hard, and I’m really proud of you for that. You just being here makes me happier than anything ever has.”

“But-”

“No. No ‘buts’,” Yuugi insisted. “I don’t care if you have a hard time with food, or touch, or smells, or loud noises, or anything else. You’re  _ here, _ and that’s what matters. I love you just the way you are.”

With that, he wrapped both arms around Atem in a gentle, reassuring hug. Atem let out a quiet whimper as he leaned against Yuugi, exhausted and stressed; Yuugi could practically _ feel  _ how utterly worn down Atem was. Seldom had Yuugi ever seen him so vulnerable.

“I’m sorry,” Atem whispered, just barely loud enough for Yuugi to hear.

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” Yuugi insisted as he continued to hold Atem close, rubbing his back in slow, gentle circles.

“I just… I feel so _ bad.  _ In every way possible,” Atem admitted. “I feel- I don’t know, I just feel so- I feel  _ stupid. _ I can’t even eat. The most basic aspects of living, I can’t handle,” he continued, voice shaking. “I-I think Anzu and the others shouldn’t come… I don’t want them to see how pathetic I am…”

“You’re not pathetic, and they wouldn’t mind anyway,” Yuugi assured him. (Though Atem was fairly quiet, he could feel tears slowly soaking through the fabric of his shirt; He chose not to comment on this.) “After all, Jounouchi-kun was here earlier, remember? He said he wants to help you. He loves you, all of our friends do.”

Atem shook his head, still hiding his face against Yuugi’s shoulder. “He- He wasn’t there for dinner, he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know… He…” he paused, trailing off, took a deep breath and let out a choked sob. “...I-I want to be normal, aibou. I’m- everything about me is so wrong, and I don’t… I don’t- I-I- I want, I want to be like you, I want to be a real person,” he finished, shaking and stuttering and clinging to Yuugi’s shirt like a lifeline.

“You’re as real as I am,” Yuugi replied softly, holding him a bit closer.

“No, I’m not, I- I can’t eat, a-and feeling things scares me, and I don’t even know- don’t… Don’t know if I’m even breathing right,” Atem stammered. “I’m not a- a real person, and I’ve never been one, a-and I’m never gonna be. I’m trying so, so hard but- but I  _ can’t.” _

“That doesn’t make you not a person,” Yuugi insisted. “Listen. I don’t care how long it takes you to get used to things, or even if you never get used to it at all. I promise I will never, ever judge you for any of this- And I won’t let anyone else, either,” he added. “It’s  _ ok.  _ You can just be you, there’s nothing wrong with the way you are. Please, Other Me, be nicer to yourself; You don’t deserve this kind of treatment from anyone, not even from you.”

“I don’t- I don’t know how to be nice to myself,” Atem muttered.

Yuugi gave a worried hum. “I understand. I’ll help you, and so will our friends, ok?”

Atem nodded, and bit his lip to hold back another sob. 

Yuugi sighed, gently running a hand through Atem’s hair. “It’s ok, go ahead and cry it out,” he suggested. “It’ll help you feel better.”

Atem, to Yuugi’s relief, seemed to take the suggestion to heart. He cried into Yuugi’s shoulder for what felt like forever, clinging to him so tight it almost hurt, sobbing until he had completely tired himself out; Yuugi held him all the while, rubbing his back and his head and whispering words of reassurance.

How many times had they done this now, Yuugi wondered? It had barely been a few hours, and yet... 

Yuugi frowned worriedly; Atem had been doing much better before dinner, he realized. All the progress he’d made had been undone in a matter of minutes by two forkfuls of kushari and half a piece of bread. 

He couldn’t help but feel angry at the universe, or the gods, or whoever or whatever the hell was out there, for doing this to Atem- What had the poor boy ever done to deserve such punishment? He’d already been through so much! Wasn’t it enough for him to have to endure three thousand years of isolation, a year as an amnesiac ghost, and the memory of unspeakable horrors? Did the universe really have to make things so excessively hard for him, enough for the simple act of eating to send him into panic attacks and spirals of self-loathing? It was cruel, sadistic even. Sure, maybe Atem had… ...Well, ok, murdered a few people, yeah… But it still seemed horribly unfair to so severely punish a  _ traumatized child _ for the things he’d done before he’d really known any better. Surely there were worse people out there.

Atem didn’t deserve this. He was finally getting the chance to  _ live _ for the first time in three thousand years; He should have been laughing and smiling and playing with his friends, he should have been  _ enjoying _ life, not… Not curled up in Yuugi’s arms, clinging to him like he was utterly terrified to let go, crying and saying that he didn’t want his friends to see him because he was embarrassed to exist. He didn’t deserve to constantly take one step forward and two steps back.

...Yuugi took a deep, shaking breath to quell his anger, and held Atem a little tighter.

“I love you,” he said quietly. “I… I need you to know that. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone else thinks of you, you’ll always be safe with me. I promise.”

“Thank you,” Atem whispered.

Yuugi sighed, and gently ran a hand through Atem’s hair- And then, a knock came at the door.

“Oh… That must be Anzu,” Yuugi muttered in realization.

Atem immediately tensed, shaking his head. “No. Tell her- Tell her not to come in,” he pleaded.

Yuugi bit his lip, but nodded as he reluctantly let go of Atem and stood up to answer the door. As expected, Anzu stood outside, smiling and waiting expectantly.

“Hi, Anzu,” Yuugi greeted her hesitantly, slipping out the door and shutting it behind him. “Listen, um… I’m really sorry, but Atem’s not doing so great right now, so…”

“Oh, uh- That’s fine,” Anzu replied, though she looked ever-so-slightly disappointed. “Actually, the others and I were going to go up on the deck to watch the sunset, so I came to ask if you two wanted to come. I totally understand if Atem’s not feeling up to it, though.”

Yuugi blinked in surprise. “That… That sounds like fun, actually,” he realized. “Let me talk to Atem about it. I don’t know if he’d want to go or not, but I hope we can,” he decided with a nod.

Anzu smiled. “Great! See you soon, then, maybe?”

“Yeah, I hope so,” Yuugi replied, smiling back. “Talk to you later, Anzu.”

“Alright, bye!”

Yuugi waved goodbye as he went back inside, watching Anzu turn to leave down the hallway. He found Atem still sitting on the couch, with his arms and legs pulled close to his body and his gaze downcast, almost as if trying to hide from… From what, exactly, Yuugi had no idea. He wasn’t sure Atem did either.

“...So,” Yuugi began tentatively. “It turns out, Anzu and the others are going up to watch the sunset. She invited us to come with them,” he explained. “Do you want to?”

Atem shifted his weight nervously, glancing up at Yuugi and then back down at the floor. “I… I don’t think I should.”

“I think it would be good for you,” Yuugi said as he sat down next to Atem, gently taking his hand. “You’ve been in this stuffy room all day, I think some fresh air and a change of scenery would do you some good. And I think talking to our friends would cheer you up, too.”

“I don’t think I should talk to them,” Atem muttered quietly. “I mean… What if, you know… What if something happens? What if I- freak out in front of everyone?” he wondered, shaking his head in worry.

“It’s ok. I don’t think anyone would judge you if you did. They might be a little surprised or worried, sure, but no one would ever think badly for it- You know our friends, they’re not like that,” Yuugi pointed out. “And besides, if you start to feel uncomfortable, we can always go back inside.”

Atem said nothing, still looking uncertain.

Yuugi gave Atem a sympathetic look. “I won’t make you go if you don’t want to, but I really do think it would be good for you. And I don’t think you have anything to be afraid of when it comes to our friends,” he added, smiling reassuringly.

Atem paused for a moment, not sure whether to believe Yuugi or not; Then again, he realized… If his friends had never had a problem with him when he’d been a murderous, amnesiac ghost possessing their friend, surely they could accept him being a little odd? They had all seen more than their fair share of strange people, and had always taken it in stride. There were worse things to be than bad at eating, or whatever.

Probably. Maybe. He hoped.

“...Alright, I… I’ll come,” he decided after a bit of thought, nodding hesitantly. “But, um… Don’t… Don’t tell them about- What happened with dinner, ok?” he muttered.

“Of course.” Yuugi smiled, and stood up, stretching out sightly.

Atem slowly followed Yuugi to the door, where Yuugi paused, bending over to put his shoes on. He glanced up at Atem and gestured expectantly to the pair of shoes next to his; Atem frowned in confusion for a moment, before recognizing them as his own sandals.

Hesitantly, he slipped them onto his feet. The rough, stiff straw was more uncomfortable than he remembered, rubbing painfully at the soft bare skin on the tops of his feet and between his toes.

He let out a slight hiss of discomfort, but otherwise said nothing. He took a deep breath as he followed Yuugi out the door, leaving the room behind and stepping out into the wider world for the first time. 

He glanced around at the dimly-lit hallway as he walked, taking in the scenery curiously. He’d seen it before, of course- But only by proxy, through Yuugi’s eyes. Seeing it on his own felt different, somehow, though he couldn’t distinguish exactly why. He stumbled slightly as the boat suddenly lurched, and found himself instinctively grabbing onto the nearest object- Yuugi’s arm- for support.

Yuugi glanced back at Atem worriedly for a moment, but soon gave him a reassuring grin, motioning for them to continue forwards. Atem nodded, and held Yuugi’s hand as he followed him up the stairs and out to the deck.

Atem didn’t see anything at first, squeezing his eyes shut as the orange light of the setting sun hit him like a truck, blinding him for a few seconds. It was loud outside, too- The hum of the ship’s motor, the roaring of the water, and the loud whoosh of wind seemed to surround him on every side, like a jackhammer in his ears. His skin felt strange, too, simultaneously heated by the blazing sun yet cooled as the wind hit it. 

He stood there at the top of the stairs for a minute, stunned, trying to get his bearings; Suddenly, one particular sound seemed to win out over all the noise.

“Yuugi! Atem!”

Atem hesitantly, slowly cracked open one eye, then the other; He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light, and soon saw his friends, standing on one side of the deck and waving excitedly.

Yuugi waved back with just as much enthusiasm, pulling Atem along as he rushed to meet them. Atem, still disoriented, followed Yuugi without much thought.

“Hey guys!” Yuugi greeted the others cheerfully.

“Hey! Glad you two could make it!” Anzu replied. She and the others turned their attention towards Atem, grinning in excitement and waving to greet him.

“Hi Atem!”

“Hey, bro! Glad to see you!”

“There you are! Welcome back!”

“Hey, Atem!”

Atem blinked, not quite sure how to respond to so many people at once. 

“Um… Hi,” he replied awkwardly, giving a small, hesitant wave. His confusion was clear on his face, eyes wide as he stayed close to Yuugi.

“How are you feeling?” Bakura asked.

“Huh?” Atem replied, not quite sure what Bakura had said over the chaotic noise of the boat.

“How are you feeling?” Bakura repeated.

Atem frowned; Bakura’s words still sounded like gibberish to his ears. “Sorry, what..?”

“How are you-”

“Oh, um… I’m, uh… I’m fine,” Atem finally answered, suddenly realizing what Bakura had said. (His answer, of course, was not entirely truthful, but… He didn’t know what else to say, really.)

“Man, you really had me worried back there,” Honda admitted, though he tried to act casual. “Glad to see you’re doing alright.”

Atem said nothing; He didn’t know what to say to that. He avoided meeting Honda’s gaze, suddenly struck with guilt- Both for having made his friends worry, and for knowing how let down they would all be when they realized just how  _ not _ alright he was.

Atem sighed, and shuffled a bit closer to Yuugi, trying to focus on the sunset instead of… Everything else. 

“Hey, you ok?” Jounouchi asked quietly, frowning slightly at Atem’s expression. “You look kinda…” he trailed off, gesturing vaguely as he failed to think of the right word.

Atem bit his lip, hesitating slightly before nodding in response. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m just- It’s loud out here,” he lied.

Jounouchi nodded, and gave Atem a sympathetic look. Atem worried for a moment that the others might question him further, but they didn’t seem to do so, instead content to watch the sunset in silence.

Atem joined them, sighing as he watched the trees go by.

“The sunset sure is pretty,” Yuugi commented, smiling softly.

Atem nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

“Probably feels familiar, huh?” Marik said, and it took Atem a moment before he realized Marik’s comment had been directed at him.

Familiar…

...It was true, Atem realized. For all the ways society had changed in the past three thousand years, the sunset was one of few things that had hardly changed at all; The sky still burned brightly as the sun set over the west bank of the Nile, dyeing the water a brilliant orange, with hardly a single cloud in the hazy desert sky. Aside from the occasional building or electrical tower, the shapes on the bank were familiar too, with a thick border of trees and reeds silhouetted against the sky.

Atem had seen this view many times. In those days, though, the journey had been quieter, and his companions different; He felt a sudden pang of sadness, recalling the times his father had stood by his side, where Yuugi was now.

_ Their _ father, he reminded himself. “His” memories were not truly his own, but rather the memories of an individual who no longer existed. They were in equal part Yuugi’s memories as much as they were his, which was… Strange to think about, really. He wondered if Yuugi felt the same nostalgia he did towards the sunset, if he even knew how many times they’d seen it- Or if it was nothing to him, holding no meaning beyond that of a pretty view in an exotic land.

“So, explain to me again this whole…  _ Thing _ with you two,” Honda interrupted the silence, gesturing towards Yuugi and Atem. “How can you be the same person when you’re two different people? I don’t get it.”

“We started out as the same person, but then we got split in two,” Yuugi explained.

“How’d that happen?”

“Um… Magic, I guess?” Yuugi replied with a shrug, frowning slightly and looking to Atem for further clarification.

Atem glanced up as he realized it was his turn to explain. “Mm. I- I mean,  _ we-  _ sealed part of our soul into the Millennium Puzzle, along with Zorc.”

“There’s something I’ve been wondering about that, actually,” Bakura interrupted. “How  _ did _ you get split, anyway? I mean, I understand that you had to seal yourself to seal Zorc, but- Why only part of your soul?” he wondered. “Why not the whole thing?”

The others looked to Atem expectantly, waiting for an explanation- Including Yuugi. Atem paused, closing his eyes for a moment and sighing as he recalled the line of thinking behind their last-ditch plan from so long ago.

“There were… Two reasons for that,” he began. “The first was in the hopes that someday, we- Or I suppose in this case, technically, I- might be able to get out. The second was… To act as a failsafe, basically?”

“What do you mean, failsafe?” Yuugi asked with genuine surprise, giving Atem a questioning look. The others, too, looked surprised and confused.

Atem nodded. “Think about it: If Zorc were ever to somehow escape on his own, and we were completely sealed inside the Millennium Puzzle… We’d be helpless to stop him. We’d just be trapped forever,” he explained, shuddering slightly at the thought. “But as long as there’s still a part of us on the outside- Our soul is naturally drawn together, so ideally we’d still have a chance at stopping Zorc.”

“And that’s exactly what happened, isn’t it?” Anzu realized. “It sounds like you guys really thought this through.”

“Yeah, wow! You guys are good!” Jounouchi gasped. The others gave nods and murmurs of agreement.

“Yeah, everything… Pretty much went according to plan,” Atem admitted, nodding in acknowledgement. “So that’s good, at least.”

“Just with horrible side effects,” Yuugi muttered. The group suddenly fell silent at that.

Atem shrugged. “I mean, it would have been horrible either way. All things considered, this is still way better than- ...The alternative.” He took a deep breath, tensing slightly, squeezing Yuugi’s hand anxiously at the memory of what he’d been through- At the thought of having to experience that  _ forever,  _ with no possible way out-

The others exchanged worried, uncomfortable glances, not really sure how to respond to the sudden dark turn the conversation had taken.

“...Well, at least it’s over now, right?” Anzu said hesitantly after a moment, trying to sound optimistic. “Nothing but good things ahead!”

“Yeah, just think of all the fun you’ll be able to have now that you have your own body!” Marik added, nodding enthusiastically.

“I’m sure it’ll make multiplayer games easier,” Bakura laughed.

Jounouchi suddenly clapped both hands together, a look of realization passing over his face. “Hey, I know! Once we all get back to Japan, we should have a big party!” he suggested. “We can go to the arcade, and then we can go to Burger World and Atem can eat as much as he wants, and then we’ll go to the amusement park and ride the spinny cups until we puke, and-”

“...Um.”

The others paused at Atem’s quiet interruption, waiting politely to hear what he had to say- And then, he realized, he didn’t know what that was.

What _ was _ he supposed to say? He fidgeted nervously in place, glancing around as if expecting the ship to somehow give him answers. He knew it wouldn’t be fair of him to make his friends think everything was perfect now, that he was just as much of a normal, healthy teen as the rest of them… But at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to tell them the truth; He didn’t want them to know what a failure he was. He wanted to pretend that he fit in, to pretend that there was nothing wrong, to pretend that this was the happy ending. To pretend that the concept of going to a restaurant with his friends didn’t sound like a nightmare scenario.

...And yet, he didn’t know what else to say. And they were all staring at him now, all waiting for an answer, and he knew from their faces that they could see something was wrong- He couldn’t back out now, his friends would know he was hiding something, and he didn’t have a good excuse to give-

He had to tell them the truth. There was no way out of it.

“...Um. I… uh…” he stammered nervously, not sure how to get the words out. “W-Well, I, um… You guys should- I just think- Um…” he paused, taking a deep breath and trying to collect himself as the others waited quietly. “...There’s, um… There’s something I need to tell you,” he finally managed.

“What is it?” Anzu asked.

Atem took another deep breath.

“I’m… I’m not like you guys,” he began. “I’m not really used to- Well, you know… Being alive, I guess... So I’m- um- There are… Things, that might seem normal to you, but that are... r-really hard for me,” he admitted, fumbling over his words slightly, glancing away in an attempt to look anywhere but at his friends’ faces. “And I- I promise I’m going to try really hard, but I just… I-I just thought I should, you know, be honest with you all. I don’t want to… disappoint anyone. Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s ok,” Anzu told him gently, frowning worriedly. “We understand. Take your time, don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to like… Pressure you or anything,” Jounouchi apologized. “It was just kind of an idea. We can do whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“And if there’s anything we can do to help you out, just say so,” Honda added with a reassuring smile.

Atem blinked, a little bit surprised by this reaction- Although he shouldn’t have been, knowing his friends. Yuugi was right, of course they’d never judge him.

Atem smiled softly. “Thanks, everyone. That really means a lot to me.”

His friends smiled back, all watching him with determined looks of support, not the slightest hint of reluctance or awkwardness in their faces. Atem let out a breath, feeling some of his anxiety slowly dissipate; It was a welcome relief, feeling a tension he hadn’t even known he had finally begin to slip away after what must have been hours.

Next to him, Jounouchi began to raise a hand- And then hesitated, meeting Atem’s gaze with an uncertain look. Seeing no protest from Atem, Jounouchi slowly, tentatively put a hand on his shoulder.

Both Atem and Jounouchi tensed slightly at first, awkward and uncertain, but soon relaxed. Atem sighed contentedly; The warm, soft touch felt nice against his bare shoulder. Even nicer still was the connotations of the gesture, and knowing he wasn’t alone.

The whole thing almost felt… Too real to be true. A body of his own, the chance to be  _ alive,  _ to be himself and to live and feel and _ exist  _ without living on borrowed time, without having to pretend to be someone else; Back home in Egypt, watching a beautiful sunset on the Nile, with the time to enjoy it all without any imminent threat of danger looming overhead; His friends by his side, all happy to be together, all happy to love and accept him as he was, struggles and oddities and all.

This was the sort of thing he’d fantasized about for so long, late at night when he couldn’t seem to fall asleep, but had nothing to do other than imagine what it might be like to be real; He never would have dreamed that those fantasies could become reality. It was so much more than he could ever have hoped for, and now that he had it… He didn’t know what to do, really.

“Hey, are you ok?” Jounouchi asked worriedly. Atem frowned slightly in confusion at this question- And then realized he was crying a little bit, something he’d failed to notice over every other sensation he’d been feeling.

“Y-yeah,” Atem assured him, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. “Yeah, I’m fine, I just- This is… Nice. Thank you,” he replied, too overwhelmed (in a good way, for once) by it all to really put his feelings into words.

Jounouchi gave him a sympathetic smile, and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. Yuugi smiled too, giving Atem’s hand a reassuring squeeze.

For a while, the group stayed as they were, watching as the sun gradually sunk lower and lower on the horizon. Atem shivered slightly as the wind began to grow just a little bit colder.

“Egypt really is pretty,” Anzu commented, tucking a loose hair behind her ear. “I’m a little sad we have to leave so soon, to be honest. I hope we can come back someday.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of that- What’s the situation with you two? Did you talk to Kaiba yet?” Marik asked.

Yuugi nodded. “Yeah, we managed to convince him, although he wasn’t too happy about it. He said the passport and stuff should get here by Friday.”

“Oh, that’s not too bad, then.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m actually going to stay a little longer,” Bakura announced, much to everyone’s surprise. “I called my dad and he said I can stay for two more days.”

“Really? How’d you manage that?” Jounouchi wondered.

Bakura shrugged. “I told him I was like, really moved by all the history and wanted to stay longer. He got really emotional about it,” he admitted, with a slight awkward laugh.

“Well it’s nice that you’re staying,” Marik said. “Maybe I could show you around the city? And you two could come too, if you like,” he added, nodding towards Yuugi and Atem.

Bakura smiled and nodded. “Sure, that sounds fun!”

“Hey, I have an idea,” Anzu interrupted. “Since most of us are leaving tomorrow, why don’t we have a sleepover tonight?”

“A sleepover?” Yuugi repeated questioningly. 

“Yeah! We can all hang out in one room, and then when it gets late, we can bring our pillows and blankets and all go to sleep,” Anzu explained. “I mean, as long as everyone’s comfortable with that. I don’t want to stress Atem out or anything.”

Atem tilted his head thoughtfully, intrigued by this idea. He  _ would _ like to spend more time with his friends before they all left for Japan.

“I think I’d like to try it,” he decided with a nod. “What about you guys?”

“Sounds fun to me!” Yuugi agreed, practically bouncing in excitement.

“Yeah, sounds great!”

“Count me in!”

“Sounds like fun!”

For what felt like the first time that day, Atem found himself with an ear-to-ear grin, sincerely looking forward to the sleepover. Maybe being alive was an endless assault of stress and shock, sure, but at the end of the day (literally), it was hard to feel too sad when his friends were around. Where he’d be without them, he couldn’t imagine, but he was endlessly grateful for their presence.

More than anything he might have wanted to someday experience for himself, it was really his friends that made life truly worth living. And he knew, deep down, that no matter what happened- No matter if he was alive or dead, functional or a wreck, Egyptian or Japanese- His friends would  _ always  _ be there for him, and that meant so much more to him than anything else ever could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although it's not directly stated, this AU's Atem has something called Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, a real eating disorder that's most commonly (although not always) seen in people with disorders such as ADHD or autism, or people who have had food allergies since early childhood. Although his is a more severe case, the descriptions given in this fic aren't really exaggerated, tbh.  
> If you sympathized with Atem during the dinner scene, please extend that same sympathy towards the "picky eaters" in your life. If his experience felt too familiar to you, please know that you're not alone, you're not "just picky", you're not "faking it", and you deserve respect. Please also be sure to eat what you can when you can, because eating something is much better than eating nothing at all.


	3. Bittersweet Morning Coffee

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sheer length of this chapter terrifies me. It took like, 4 minutes straight to select it all in Google Docs. :/

“Man, it’s a good thing I always pack extra clothes,” Yuugi commented as he dug through his suitcase. “We’re gonna have to do a lot of laundry this week, though.”

Atem sat quietly on the bed, taking a few minutes to relax in the relative quiet of his and Yuugi’s room; As much as it had been fun to watch the sunset with his friends, and as much as he was looking forward to the sleepover, he was still quite easily overwhelmed by the noises and sensations outside. Even just sitting on the bed, his skin felt weirdly tingly, like he could still feel traces of the wind on his arms and legs and face.

“Here,” Yuugi said, and before Atem had time to react, something soft hit him square in the face. He flinched slightly, face scrunching up in surprise and confusion, and then opened his eyes to find a pair of boxers and a T-shirt- As well as a pair of loose shorts, which evidently had fallen off his lap and onto the floor.

“What’s wrong with my clothes?” He wondered, frowning slightly.

“Nothing, you’ve just been wearing them all day. If we’re gonna have a sleepover, you gotta wear pajamas,” Yuugi explained, as he himself wiggled out of his own shirt.

“Oh, right.”

It didn’t take long for Atem to change into the pajamas Yuugi had provided him. He sat back down on the bed, and frowned slightly at the apparent strangeness of the new outfit; Wearing shorts felt weird, like a skirt that’s constantly stuck between your legs, and everything seemed to have so many lumpy seams. The collar and sleeves of his shirt seemed to be almost squeezing him a little- even though he knew they weren’t really- and the shirt collar itched like hell. Were all modern clothes this uncomfortable, he wondered? He didn’t seem to recall Yuugi ever having much of a problem with them, aside from the rare occasion, but… If these were supposed to be comfortable pajamas, then Atem dreaded learning what daytime clothes must have felt like.

“Ready to go?” Yuugi asked, slipping the Millennium Puzzle over his neck as he finished getting dressed. (Atem wondered idly if Yuugi had a purpose to wearing it, or if he’d simply forgotten he didn’t have to.)

Atem said nothing at first, frowning and fiddling with his clothes. He twisted his shirt from side to side; Pulled at the sleeves, pulled at the collar; Turned the collar inside-out, turned it back again. Scratched at the tag that poked the back of his neck, and huffed in irritation.

...After a moment’s thought, Atem suddenly pulled his shirt off, tossing it onto the bed. He then stood up with a resolute nod.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Yuugi raised an eyebrow at Atem, but didn’t comment. He picked up the two pillows from the bed, wrapped them hastily in the blanket, and scooped all three into his arms before making his way to the door.

Atem followed Yuugi down the hall, turning into a room similar to the one they’d come from. Inside, he found Anzu, Bakura, and Marik sitting on the floor, surrounded by pillows and blankets.

“Hey guys!” Marik greeted them. Anzu and Bakura waved, smiling excitedly.

“Hi!” Yuugi replied cheerfully, as he dumped the blanket and pillows unceremoniously onto the floor. “How are you guys?”

“Same as we were when you saw us ten minutes ago,” Anzu teased. 

Yuugi laughed slightly, tilting his head to concede defeat. He sat down on the floor, grabbing a pillow and dragging it next to Anzu; Atem tentatively followed suit, though he remained silent the whole time. A moment later, the door opened again, and Jounouchi and Honda joined the group.

“Yo,” Honda greeted the others with a casual wave, though there was a smile on his face. Jounouchi, meanwhile, half-bounced, half-stumbled into the room, plopping himself down on the ground next to Bakura and throwing his pillow to the side.

“So what should we do, now that everyone’s here?” Marik wondered. “I’ve never been to a sleepover before.”

“We should play some party games!” Yuugi decided. “Anyone have suggestions?”

“Hmm… How about shiritori?” Anzu started.

“Mafia is always fun,” Honda added.

“Yeah, but mafia is kinda complicated,” Yuugi pointed out, frowning slightly. “It’s a good game, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like we should start with something else. Any other suggestions?”

“How about two truths and a lie?” Bakura tried.

The others exchanged thoughtful glances, mulling it over and shrugging.

“I’m cool with that,” Jounouchi decided.

Yuugi nodded. “Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good one. Any objections?”

The others shook their heads- Except for Marik, who raised his hand. “How do you play this game?”

“Oh, it’s easy,” Yuugi assured him, smiling as he explained. “Everyone takes turns giving three statements about themselves: Two truths, and a lie, as the name says. The rest of the group then has to try to guess which facts are real and which one is the lie.”

“It’s the easiest way to get your friends to spill all their dirty secrets,” Honda joked, grinning mischievously. (Anzu rolled her eyes at him.)

“Sounds fun,” Marik decided with a nod. “Who starts?”

“Not it!” Yuugi and Bakura simultaneously declared, startling Atem slightly with the sudden shouts.

“Not me either, I gotta think of something,” Jounouchi added.

“I don’t think I should start, I’ve never played before…”

Anzu sighed. “Alright, I’ll start. Geez.” She shook her head in disbelief, and then paused for a moment as she thought about what to say.

“Alright, let’s see… I, hmm… I scored top of my class for English, I’ve never failed a game of DDR, and… I used to have a cat,” she listed, counting off on her fingers as she spoke, and nodding when she finished.

“I think it’s the first one,” Yuugi decided fairly quickly.

Jounouchi shook his head. “Nah, it’s gotta be the third one. There’s no way Anzu would lose at DDR, and I bet she’s good at English, too.”

“But I remember her cat,” Yuugi countered. “Her name was Maru. She died when we were little, but I still remember.”

“Aw, I was going to vote for the cat too,” Honda said with a frown. “Guess that would’ve been too easy, though.”

“Maybe it’s the first one?” Marik suggested. “I-I dunno, I’m just guessing.”

“Hmm, I think it has to be the second. There’s no way anyone has a perfect DDR record,” Bakura decided.

Atem shook his head. “No, if anyone could, it would be Anzu. I vote for the first one.”

Anzu grinned as she watched the others debate, humming knowingly to herself. “Everyone done?”

The others gave murmurs of confirmation, and looked to Anzu for the answer.

“The lie is… Number two!” she announced, holding up two fingers.

Bakura clapped cheerfully. “Yay, I win!”

Atem, meanwhile, looked shocked. “Wait, you mean you’ve actually failed at DDR before?” he asked in surprise.

“Yeah, back when it was new,” Anzu explained with a slight laugh. “I underestimated the difficulty and picked the highest level even though I’d never played it before, so I didn’t do so well.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” Atem conceded. “Since Bakura won, I guess that means he’s next?”

Bakura blinked in surprise. “Oh, right. Hang on, give me a minute to think of something.”

The group went fairly quiet as they waited, glancing around or moving about idly to keep themselves entertained. Atem rocked in place slightly, feeling a bit bored (as well as wishing he had more comfortable clothes).

“Psst. Atem.”

Atem glanced up, and saw Jounouchi holding out his arms towards him. Atem stared blankly at Jounouchi for a moment, not quite sure what this meant; Jounouchi made a grabby hands motion and gave Atem an expectant look. Atem frowned in confusion, and hesitantly, tentatively scooted across the floor towards Jounouchi, hoping that was the right thing to do. 

Atem wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but he most certainly had not been expecting Jounouchi to suddenly grab him and pull him into his lap. He let out a yelp of surprise, and almost tried to get away- But found himself relaxing as Jounouchi wrapped his arms around him in a close, tight hug.

“You’re so  _ tiny,  _ dude,” Jounouchi informed him, resting his chin on the top of Atem’s head with a gentle  _ thud. _

“I mean, so is Yuugi,” Atem replied, laughing and raising an eyebrow at Jounouchi. (He smiled as he settled back against Jounouchi’s chest; The pressure and warmth of the hug felt nice.)

“I know! You’re both so small!” Jounouchi exclaimed. “I bet I could carry both of you at the same time.”

Anzu gave a snort of disbelief. “You could not.”

“Could too!”

“No way!”

“Eh, I’d believe it,” Honda decided, shrugging. “I dunno about Yuugi, but Atem probably doesn’t weigh 35 kilos soaking wet.”

“Yeah, but the logistics of it-”

“I could too cary both of them, and I’ll prove it right now!” Jounouchi declared. “Yuugi, get over here!”

Yuugi stayed where he was, and raised his hand sheepishly. “Um, I don’t think you should do that.”

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“One: It sounds like a terrible idea in general. Two: We’re on a  _ boat,” _ Yuugi pointed out. “Three: Please don’t injure Atem, he only just got this body.”

“Alright, you got me,” Jounouchi gave in, pouting slightly. “I still think I could, though.”

“If you guys are done, I’m ready to play,” Bakura announced, interrupting the conversation. The others seemed to have almost forgotten they’d been playing a game, but soon settled back into place, looking at Bakura expectantly.

“Alright, Bakura-kun, what are your three statements?” Yuugi prompted.

Bakura grinned and bounced slightly as he answered, a hint of childish mischief in his expression. “One: I can shuffle a deck with one hand. Two: I haven’t had a haircut in two years. Three: I’ve seen a ghost.”

“Oh, it’s gotta be the first one,” Marik guessed. “I can’t imagine shuffling a deck with one hand.”

“I don’t believe you’ve really seen a ghost!” Honda declared.

Anzu raised an eyebrow. “We’ve  _ all  _ seen ghosts, you moron,” she corrected him, gesturing towards Atem.

Jounouchi suddenly tensed slightly. Atem turned to look at him curiously, and found Jounouchi staring at him with a nervous, uncomfortable expression.

“Man, it sounds so much creepier when you say it like that,” Jounouchi whimpered.

Atem gave Jounouchi an apologetic look.

“Wait, hold on. Does that technically count, though?” Honda wondered.

“What do you mean?” Yuugi asked.

“I mean, we’ve only ever seen Yu- I mean, Atem when he’s possessing Yuugi’s body, up until now,” Honda pointed out. “So does that really count as ‘seeing’ a ghost, if we haven’t actually ‘seen’ him in ghost form?”

“I have,” Jounouchi admitted, and shuddered in discomfort.

Atem laughed slightly, giving Jounouchi an awkward pat on the knee. “I appreciate you not letting me and Yuugi die a horrible death despite your fear of ghosts. You’re a good friend.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Jounouchi muttered, though he didn’t sound terribly reassured.

“Anyway, what about the rest of us?” Honda interrupted. “I still maintain that it doesn’t really count if he’s just possessing someone else.”

“Eh, I still think it counts,” Yuugi insisted, shrugging.

“Yeah, I’m with Yuugi on this one,” Anzu decided. “I mean, a ghost possessing someone else’s body is still a ghost, you know?”

“I agree,” Atem added.

Honda tilted his head in acknowledgement. “Yeah, I guess that’s- Wait, hold on,” he interrupted himself suddenly. “If you think about it, technically we’ve only seen half a ghost.”

“Oh yeah, that’s true!” Jounouchi gasped.

“Hmm… If you count Bakura, you’ve all seen a total of one ghost,” Atem pointed out.

Meanwhile, Marik leaned over to Bakura, and whispered, “Do people always get this off topic at sleepovers?”

“I have no idea, I’ve never been to one before,” Bakura whispered back, and then cleared his throat awkwardly. “Um, hey guys? Do you wanna get back to the game?”

“Oh, right,” Yuugi said, blinking and shaking his head to get back on topic. “Well, anyway, I maintain that the one about seeing ghosts has to be real. No matter how you look at it, Bakura-kun and I have both definitely seen ghosts, so.”

Jounouchi frowned thoughtfully. “Remind me what the other two were, again?”

“I can shuffle a deck with one hand, and I haven’t cut my hair in two years,” Bakura repeated.

“I still think it has to be the first one,” Marik insisted. “Shuffling a deck with one hand sounds nearly impossible.”

“I’d have to agree with Marik-kun,” Yuugi decided with a nod.

Bakura looked to the group. “Anyone else?”

Anzu shrugged. “Yeah, I think Marik’s probably right.”

“Me too.”

“Same here.”

Bakura grinned. “Right! I’ve been trying to learn how to shuffle with one hand, but I’m not really good enough to do it yet,” he admitted. “Your turn, Marik-kun.”

“Alright, let me see here…” Marik tilted his head in thought as he tried to come up with his statements. “Hmm… I can write in hieroglyphs and hieratic, I hate kushari, and I came in first place in Cairo’s regional Duel Monsters tournament when I was fourteen.”

“What’s hieratic?” Jounouchi asked.

“It’s a simplified form of hieroglyphs,” Atem answered. “We use it for most non-formal writings, because it’s a lot less of a pain in the ass to write. It can be hard to read sometimes, though,” he admitted, frowning slightly.

Jounouchi nodded. “Well, that one’s gotta be true, then,” he decided. “Which means the lie must be… uh…”

“Maybe the third one?” Atem guessed.

“Eh, I’d say the second,” Honda decided. “Marik’s a hell of a duelist, I could easily see him winning regionals.”

Marik laughed sheepishly, smiling at the praise. “Aw, thanks.”

“I still think the first one could be the lie,” Anzu said with a shrug. “Ancient Egyptian writing was so complicated, you had to go to school just to learn it. I can’t imagine being able to write one alphabet, let alone two.”

Atem shook his head. “That’s not entirely true. Scribes went to school, yes, but there’s a lot more to being a scribe than just knowing how to read and write. Priests and some types of government officials were usually literate, too,” he explained. “I can read and write hieroglyphs and hieratic, although I’m not so great with the less common signs.”

“It’s kinda like kanji, right?” Yuugi said.

“Exactly. I don’t think we even had as many hieroglyphs as there are kanji, so you could even argue that it’s easier.”

“Alright, alright, I stand corrected,” Anzu gave in calmly, putting her hands up in surrender. “In that case, I’d say it’s the second.”

“Me too,” Yuugi decided. “The third is too specific to be a lie.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Bakura added in.

Marik smiled and nodded. “Guess I made that a little too easy, huh?” he laughed. “Kushari’s actually my favorite food. I can’t imagine anyone hating it!”

Yuugi and Atem exchanged glances from across the circle, sharing an unspoken conversation; After a moment, Atem looked away in shame. Yuugi frowned worriedly.

“I think I was the first to guess it, yeah? Looks like it’s my turn, then,” Honda continued, oblivious to Yuugi and Atem. “Let’s see, uh… Alright. One: I hate babies. Two: My dog’s name is Lucky. Three: I have never played Duel Monsters.”

“You hate babies?!”

“You’ve never played Duel Monsters?!”

Honda blinked in surprise at Yuugi and Marik’s simultaneous shocked outbursts (while Atem flinched slightly at the noise), and then smirked. “Well, what do you think? You gotta guess if it’s true or not, that’s the point of the game,” he reminded them with an innocent shrug.

“It’s the second one. His dog’s name is Blankie,” Jounouchi calmly informed the group.

Honda pouted slightly. “Wow, way to ruin it, dude.”

“Hey, it’s your fault for picking something so easy,” Jounouchi insisted. “By the way, I have to ask: Have you actually, like, _ met _ any babies other than your nephew? Cause I’ve met quite a few, and I dunno what the hell came out your sister, but that thing is  _ not  _ a baby. It’s some sort of hellspawn.”

“That seems a little harsh,” Bakura said with a frown. “Babies don’t know any better, it’s not like-”

“No, trust me, Honda’s nephew is definitely a nightmare on purpose,” Anzu interrupted, grimacing slightly at the thought. (Yuugi and Atem both nodded in agreement.)

“So, wait… Then you’ve really never played Duel Monsters? How come?” Marik questioned in surprise.

Honda shrugged. “It’s just not my thing. I mean, I’ve got nothing against it, but I’m not really a card game kind of guy, you know? Plus, it’s so pricey,” he explained. “I don’t want to spend money on something I’m not going to enjoy all that much.”

“Fair enough, I guess.”

“If you ever want to try, you’re welcome to borrow some of my cards,” Yuugi told Honda with cheerful sincerity.

Honda smiled back. “Thanks, Yuugi. I doubt I will, but I appreciate it.”

With that, the group turned their attention towards Jounouchi. Jounouchi stared blankly ahead for a few seconds, before suddenly jumping slightly as he remembered that it was his turn.

“Oh, right! Uhhhhhh…” he trailed off as he tried to think of something to say. “‘Kay, here goes: One, I’m a Capricorn. Two, I’ve been to America multiple times. Three, I didn’t learn to tie my shoes until I was seven.”

The others paused for a moment to think.

“Man, this is a tough one,” Yuugi commented, frowning slightly. “I’m gonna say the third one.”

“I think it’s the first,” Bakura decided. “You’re not very Capricorn-like.”

“It’s gotta be the second one,” Anzu added.

Jounouchi grinned. “That’s one vote for each! Anyone else?”

“I vote the first one,” Honda replied.

“...I guess the third?” Marik decided, shrugging and frowning in confusion.

Jounouchi kept up the same I-know-something-you-don’t smile as he listened to his friends’ guesses. “Atem, your vote?”

“Uh…” Atem paused, realizing he… Didn’t really have any particular evidence for or against any of the three statements, no matter how much he thought about it. “...I dunno, maybe the second one?”

Jounouchi’s grin widened, and he nearly fought back a giggle. “The winner is… Bakura!”

“I knew it!” Bakura exclaimed, raising both hands in victory. “Let me guess, you’re an Aquarius, right?”

“Yep! And I’ve been to America a couple times because I have cousins in Brooklyn.”

“Out of curiousity, what’s your ascendant sign?” Bakura asked.

Jounouchi frowned in confusion. “My what..?”

“Hey, since Bakura already went, can I go?” Yuugi interrupted.

The rest of the group exchanged glances, and then shrugged. Taking this as a yes, Yuugi cleared his throat.

“Alright, let’s see… I’m 153 centimeters tall, my first card was Feral Imp, and I’m afraid of scorpions.”

“Ooh, this is a tough one,” Bakura gasped.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Is it?”

_ “You’re _ not allowed to answer this one,” Yuugi announced, pointing firmly at Atem. “I know you know all this already.”

Atem sighed. “That’s fair.”

“It’s gotta be the first one, right?” Jounouchi guessed. “I mean, there’s no way you’re actually  _ that _ short.”

“It could easily be the second one, too,” Anzu pointed out. “Although come to think of it, 153 cm sounds about right for Yuugi, but it’s impossible to make a precise guess… He could be 152, or 154,” she realized, frowning. 

Bakura nodded. “That’s why I said this is a hard one.”

“But the second one’s just as broad,” Marik added. “There’s so many Duel Monsters cards, who knows what was Yuugi’s first?”

Atem and Yuugi both watched in amusement as the others frowned, perplexed looks on their faces, trying to figure out his riddle.

“Maybe it’s the third one, then?” Honda suggested. “After all, the first two are so specific, maybe he’s trying to trick us into thinking they’re lies when they’re actually not.”

“Or maybe that’s what he  _ wants _ us to think,” Marik countered ominously.

Jounouchi groaned. “Aw, come on! This is hard enough without all the second-guessing!” he complained. 

Yuugi laughed. “Do you guys give up?”

“Yes,” the group all replied in unison. 

“The lie was… Number three! I am not afraid of scorpions,” Yuugi announced, with all the drama of a game show host.

“Damn, you really are short,” Honda realized, raising both eyebrows in surprise, sounding almost impressed by the achievement.

Yuugi simply shrugged.

“So I guess Honda goes next, right?” Marik questioned. “Or should we let Atem go, since he hasn’t had a turn yet?”

Atem blinked at the sound of his name, and looked to the others expectantly.

“I’m cool with either one,” Honda said with a shrug.

“Let’s let Atem have a turn,” Anzu decided. “I’m interested in hearing about ancient Egypt!”

Bakura nodded in agreement. “Yeah, me too! And he deserves a turn anyway.”

“Oh, alright then.” Atem paused for a moment, taking a few seconds to think about his three statements. “Ok, uh, let me think… Hmm… Alright. My favorite Pokemon is Gengar, I’ve petted a crocodile, and I know how to shoot a bow.”

“No no, it’s supposed to be  _ one _ made up thing and two  _ real _ things,” Jounouchi told him sarcastically. 

“I’m sorry, you  _ what?!”  _ Yuugi blurted out, staring at Atem with a look somewhere between shock and terror.

“Shhh!”

“Well now we know the first one’s the lie,” Anzu muttered.

Atem groaned, smaking his forehead in disbelief. “Aibou..!”

“Sorry, I just- His favorite Pokemon is Mewtwo,” Yuugi practically babbled to the others, and then immediately blurted out, “What do you  _ mean _ you’ve petted a crocodile?!”

“It’s not that big a deal,” Atem insisted, shrugging, an almost confused frown on his face.

“No, Yuugi’s right, what the fuck man?” Jounouchi interrupted.

Marik raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I believe it coming from you, but…”

“Why in the world would you do something that dangerous?!” Anzu finished for him.

Atem shook his head. “No, listen. There’s two species of crocodiles in Egypt,” he began. “Nile crocodiles will kill you if you so much as look at them the wrong way, but sacred crocodiles are smaller and much more friendly- Especially the ones raised by the priests at the temple to Sobek in Shedet.”

“Oh yeah, that makes sense,” Marik realized. “So I assume you’ve never petted a Nile crocodile, then?”

“God, no,” Atem replied, shaking his head quickly and frowning at the thought. 

Bakura gave a thoughtful hum. “I’d like to pet a crocodile someday…”

“Well if it’s not that dangerous, I guess I wouldn’t mind,” Yuugi gave in with a slight sigh. “I was just a little… concerned.”

“If you think about it, though… If this was in ancient Egypt, then you’ve  _ both  _ petted a crocodile,” Honda pointed out.

...Yuugi made a face not unlike someone who had just been splashed with cold water, or a very confused cat. Atem laughed.

“I mean, is anyone really surprised? I’m pretty sure the only person I know with less survival instincts than Yuugi is Bakura,” Jounouchi pointed out with a laugh. 

“Woah, Bakura, are you gonna take that?” Marik teased. 

Bakura shrugged. “I can’t really deny it, honestly.”

“Clearly when the Pharaoh’s soul got split, Atem got all the confidence, and Yuugi got all the morals,” Anzu declared. 

“Hey!” Yuugi and Atem both exclaimed in response, resulting in laughter from the others as they pouted. 

Atem suddenly yawned involuntarily, and then blinked in surprise, startled by the strange feeling. He then noticed Honda staring at him with an odd look on his face, and suddenly felt self-conscious; Had he reacted the wrong way? Was he being weird? He quickly looked away, trying to act as normal as possible- or at least, what he hoped was normal- and prayed that maybe Honda would forget about the whole thing.

Jounouchi, however, had no such reservations, and didn’t seem to catch onto Atem’s anxiety.

“Yo Honda, what’s with your face, man?” he blurted out.

Honda blinked. “O-Oh, nothing, I was just thinking…” He suddenly pointed to Atem and then Yuugi in turn. “So which one of you is Goten and which one of you is Trunks?”

“I’m Trunks,” Atem and Yuugi both immediately blurted out, and then looked at each other in surprise. They paused a moment, both waiting for the other to speak; Atem gestured for Yuugi to go first.

“I think I would be Trunks, because if you’re from three thousand years ago, that makes me from the future. Therefore, I’m Trunks,” he explained.

Atem scoffed. “I’ve never thought of 1997 as being the ‘future’. Besides, consider this:  _ I _ know how to use a sword, and you don’t,” he pointed out. “Therefore,  _ I’m  _ Trunks.”

(Marik leaned over to Bakura, and whispered: “What the hell are they talking about?”

“Dragon Ball,” Bakura replied with a sigh of resignation.)

“No no no no no. You guys are looking at this all the wrong way,” Jounouchi interrupted, shaking his head. “You two are talking about _ future _ Trunks, but he’s like, a whole separate character. He’s not even in the picture,” he insisted. “Personality-wise, I’d say probably Yuugi is Goten, and Atem is Trunks.”

“Ha! Told you!” Atem exclaimed.

“Yeah, but you’re not  _ future  _ Trunks,” Yuugi reminded him. Atem stuck his tongue out in response.

“If you think about it, though, isn’t it much more of a Kagome and Kikyo situation? You know, minus the love triangle,” Anzu pointed out, as Marik continued to look confused.

Atem wrinkled his nose in distaste. “Ew, no! Don’t compare us to that crap!”

“And just what’s wrong with Inuyasha, huh?!” Anzu demanded with her hands on her hips.

“It’s got too much romance! I can’t stand it. The demon stuff is cool but the rest of it is terrible.”

Bakura frowned, tilting his head thoughtfully. “I like it, personally, but I can see why you wouldn’t, Atem-kun. It definitely does have a lot of romance compared to other stories.”

Next to Bakura, Marik raised his hand tentatively. “Um, sorry, could someone explain what we’re talking about here..?” he asked, frowning in confusion.

“Yeah, sure,” Jounouchi replied. “So Gotenks is the fusion of Goten, Goku’s son who for some reason looks just like him, and Trunks, Vegeta’s son,” he began. “Except that the cool Trunks everyone thinks of is Future Trunks, who’s a teenager, but he’s not really the same character as the Trunks who fuses with Goten, because he’s from an alternate timeline in like a Days of Future Past kinda thing and altered the timeline so he and present Trunks, aka the one who fuses with Goten, they grew up totally different and so you can’t reasonably say that future Trunks is part of Gotenks because he’s just not. And then Kagome is like Kikyo’s reincarnation or something, right, but then this creepy old witch lady took half her soul and put it in a doll or something like that so now-”

“You know what? Why don’t we do something else,” Anzu interrupted, seeing the look of increasing confusion on Marik’s face. “Anyone have any ideas?”

“We could duel,” Yuugi suggested. (Jounouchi, meanwhile, pouted slightly.)

Honda groaned and flopped down on his pillow. “You guys are always dueling, though! And it takes so damn long! Do something else for a change,” he complained.

“I wouldn’t mind a duel,” Atem argued, though his voice was soft, as was the frown on his face.

“I have an idea!” Bakura suddenly announced. “Why don’t we make a ouija board? That’s always fun.”

The others paused, staring at Bakura with varying expressions ranging from confusion to disbelief to pity. For a moment, no one said a word.

Jounouchi put a hand on Bakura’s shoulder. “Remember what I said earlier? About you not having any survival instincts?”

“Yeah?”

“This is what I was talking about.”

Atem gave a thoughtful hum as he suddenly stood up on a whim, stretching out lazily and giving Jounouchi an affectionate pat before crossing the room to sit next to Yuugi. “If you want to talk to the dead, you can just talk to me,” he half-joked as he sat down.

“Alright then, give us some ghostly advice, Your Undeadliness,” Honda prompted.

Atem scoffed. “Woah, woah, woah. You think I’m just going to share my supernatural wisdom for free? Absolutely not. I demand a proper seance,” he decided, feigning fickleness.

“What, like with candles and stuff?” Anzu questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Atem nodded. “Yes. And offerings.”

“Offerings of what?”

“Hmm, I dunno. Whatever you think is good, I guess,” Atem decided with a shrug.

As the conversation went on, Yuugi remained rather quiet, content to just watch and listen with an amused smile on his face. 

It was hard to overstate how relieved he was to see Atem enjoying himself. Yuugi had had so many worries about the whole thing when they’d decided to have a sleepover- What if it was too noisy for Atem? What if his sensory issues made him miserable all night? What if someone accidentally upset him? What if he was still too shy and self-conscious to participate, what if he had a hard time socializing? (Even before he’d gotten his memories back, Yuugi recalled, Atem had always been reluctant to hang out with the others outside of duels, almost as if he didn’t know how to do so.) Though he’d tried to be outwardly optimistic, a thousand worries had run through Yuugi’s head at first, and he’d been half preparing himself to have to eventually go back to his room and comfort Atem and assure him they could try again when he was feeling better.

Yet here they were, more than just a few minutes into the sleepover, and Atem seemed… Fine. Better than fine, even; He was smiling, laughing, joking around and having stupid silly conversations about trivial little things. Like a normal teen.

This, Yuugi thought… This was how things were supposed to be. He still felt a nagging bit of anxiety in the back of his mind, wondering if there was some sort of catch, but still… All his friends were together. Atem was here, alive, with them. Everyone was happy, and no one was trying to kill them. For once, they were all just normal kids- Even Marik, even Atem.

Despite all the anger Yuugi had held towards the gods (or the universe, or whatever was responsible for these sort of things) earlier, for now he found himself silently thanking them. For once in his life, everything was  _ right. _

Yuugi smiled, listening to his friends’ banter, and hoped they could have a thousand more nights like this one.

* * *

Several moments later, Yuugi found himself sitting in the dark, along with the others. The group had formed a more even circle on the floor, with a few people holding flashlights; In the center of the circle was a pile of pillows, and on top of that was Atem, and on top of Atem was a blanket for some reason. 

“Now we all have to hold hands,” Bakura instructed the group, putting his flashlight down and holding out both hands. The others soon mimicked him, until they had a closed loop, like some sort of summer camp gone wrong.

“Do we have to say a chant or something?” Marik whispered.

“Probably.”

“Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!” Jounouchi blurted out as if on cue.

Yuugi gasped. “Jounouchi-kun, _ no!”  _ he laughed.

“Don’t worry, I got this, everyone,” Anzu announced, and then cleared her throat. “Up! Up! Down! Down! Left! Right! Left! Right! B! A!”

“Up! Up! Down! Down! Left! Right! Left! Right! B! A!” the others repeated in chorus. “Up! Up! Down! Down! Left! Right! Left! Right! B! A! Up! Up! Down! Down! Left! Right! Left! Right! B! A!”

_ “I have been summoned!” _ Atem shouted, dramatically throwing off the blanket- Or at least trying to, though he got a bit tangled up for a brief moment or two.

“O Great Pharaoh Atem, King of Games, Lord of Darkness. We seek thy ghostly wisdom,” Bakura spoke, performing his part with just as much theatrics as Atem.

Atem nodded solemnly. “And what offering have you for me, mortal?”

“Uh…” Bakura paused, and then fought back a laugh as he answered. “A flashlight?”

Atem snickered as he took the flashlight from Bakura. “Very well then. My advice for you is this: Stop keeping cursed objects around you, sleep more regularly, and invest in a new set of dice,” he announced.

“But I already have eight sets of dice,” Bakura pointed out.

“So? You can never have too many dice,” Atem replied.

“Of course.” Bakura gave a deep bow of acknowledgement. “Thank you, Your Ghostliness.”

Atem nodded back, and turned to his left, towards Marik. “And what do you bring me, mortal?”

Marik dug around in his pocket for a moment, and produced several coins. “Fifty-five piastres, Your Majesty,” he answered, dropping the coins into Atem’s open hand.

Atem paused, rolling the coins in his hand experimentally; They made a satisfying clink, but felt strange on his skin, and they smelled funny too. After a few seconds, Atem suddenly seemed to remember what he was doing, and looked back up.

“Very well. My advice to you is…”

He paused, tilting his head thoughtfully, thinking about what to say as he watched Marik stare back at him.

Marik…

“...Keep up the good work,” he decided after a moment, and gave Marik several pats on the head.

Marik blinked in surprise, looking slightly stunned. “Oh, uh… Thanks..?”

Atem smiled, and moved on to the next person. “And you, mortal? What have you brought me?”

Anzu poked the cartouche pendant hanging against Atem’s chest, startling him slightly- He’d forgotten it was there. “I already bought you a cool necklace,” she answered.

“That’s true, you did,” Atem agreed with a nod. “Then my advice to you is: Try entering some DDR tournaments. You’d probably do very well.”

“Ooh, that’s not a bad idea,” Anzu realized, a curious, thoughtful smile on her face. “Thank you, Your Deadness.”

Atem nodded, and turned to face the next person- And then slipped slightly on the pillows, nearly falling over. He quickly sat back up and corrected his posture, but no one had missed the startled look on his face as he fell, and the others couldn’t help but laugh quietly.

Atem huffed slightly, and tucked a loose hair behind his ear as he addressed Honda. “What offering do you bring me?”

Honda frowned slightly. “Uhhhhhhhh…”

“...Okay then,” Atem interrupted, raising an eyebrow. “My advice for you is: Learn to play Duel Monsters.”

Honda groaned and flopped over backwards onto the floor. “Aw, come _ on!  _ I want a refund!” he whined.

“You didn’t pay me,” Atem replied flatly.

“Well I’m not gonna play Duel Monsters, so tell me something else,” Honda insisted, crossing his arms as he sat up again.

Atem stuck his tongue out at Honda. “Very well then, insolent mortal. My advice for you is to tell your dog I love her.”

Honda raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because it’s important, she needs to know. Now no more questions,” Atem said, pushing a hand towards Honda’s face to shush him. “Next victim- I mean, participant.”

Atem turned to his left once again, and smiled as he faced Yuugi. “And what do you bring me, mortal?”

“I bring you wisdom of my own,” Yuugi replied politely, bowing in respect and smiling. “Never offend a gazebo.”

Atem laughed. “That is indeed wise. Then my advice to you is… Hmm…” He paused for a moment, tilting his head thoughtfully. “...Wear higher platform shoes,” he decided with a nod.

“How tall?” Yuugi asked.

Atem raised an arm slowly above his head as he dramatically declared: “Fifteen centimeters!”

_ “Fifteen?!”  _ Anzu and Jounouchi both blurted out in surprise.

“Fifteen centimeters,” Atem repeated, in that same dramatic voice.

“You’re so right,” Yuugi decided, nodding slowly and laughing slightly. “Thank you, Your Gothness.”

Atem smiled. “You’re welcome.”

Finally, Atem turned towards Jounouchi, the last person in the circle. “Well then, mortal? What have you to offer me?”

“Bubblegum,” Jounouchi answered, holding out a pack. “It’s orange flavor.”

Atem raised an eyebrow, looking at the pack of gum in distaste; The thought of putting anything in his mouth, especially something with a strong scent, did not sound appealing. “...We in the realm of the dead, uh… Have no use for such things as gum,” he said awkwardly, gently pushing Jounouchi’s hand back towards him. “But I thank you for the effort. My advice is: With your play style, you could potentially benefit from adding Ancient Rules into your deck. It allows you to special summon one level 5 or higher normal monster from your hand, so it’s an easy way to get strong monsters out early in the game,” he explained.

“Ooh, that sounds cool,” Jounouchi gasped. “I’ll have to give that a shot!”

With that, the group went quiet, as everyone suddenly simultaneously realized they had no idea what came next in their odd “seance” game. It was Bakura who finally broke the silence, clearing his throat before addressing Atem.

“We thank you for, uh… For gracing us with thy presence, O Gamerly One,” he said, bowing once again. “We are humbled honored to receive your wisdom.”

Atem nodded slowly, gave a stoic “Mm-hmm”... And then threw the blanket back over his head.

“Bye-bye.”

He shut his flashlight off and flopped down onto the pillows.

* * *

“You know they used to make that stuff out of lead?” Atem said casually, watching Yuugi carefully drag an eyeliner pen across Bakura’s eyelid.

“Woah, really?” Anzu gasped.

Atem nodded. “Yeah, the eye makeup we used to use in Egypt was usually made from lead ore. Obviously, we didn’t know it was toxic.”

“Oh, lead kohl is still a thing,” Marik added. “I overheard some old ladies talking about it the other day- A couple of them were saying they stopped using it because of health concerns, but a few insisted that the non-lead-based kind isn’t as good quality.”

(Marik and Yuugi had both already been given the makeover treatment, both looking quite stylish with bold gothic makeup adorning their faces; Atem patiently awaited his turn, while Anzu made-over Jounouchi, and Honda sat on the bed trying his best not to be involved.)

“So what you’re saying is everyone in ancient Egypt had lead poisoning?” Honda commented, raising an eyebrow. “No wonder Atem’s like that,” he teased.

_ “Hey!” _

“Hey Anzu, do you have anything sparkly?” Jounouchi asked, wiggling his toes in an attempt to fidget without disrupting Anzu’s work, obediently keeping both eyes closed. “I wanna be sparkly!”

Anzu paused, putting a hand on her chin and tilting her head, thinking carefully as she took in Jounouchi’s look. “Hmm… Well I was going for a more punk-grunge look for you, but… Yeah, I think I can probably work some glitter in.”

“Come to think of it, lead cosmetics used to be pretty common in Japan, too,” Yuugi realized, reaching into the plastic makeup bag for a tube of mascara. “I remember reading an article once about lead poisoning in the 19th century.”

As Anzu and Yuugi continued, a knock suddenly came at the door.

“Come in!” Yuugi called out.

The door opened to reveal Ishizu, poking her head around the doorframe. “Hello,” she said politely, and then blinked in surprise as she glanced around the scene. “I see you’re all… Having fun,” she commented, raising an eyebrow at Marik, failing to hide an amused smile.

“Hello, sister. How do I look?” Marik asked, grinning and posing dramatically.

“...Like a rock star,” Ishizu replied, covering her mouth with one hand in an attempt to keep her stoic, dignified demeanor as she laughed.

“Did you need something, Ishizu-san?” Bakura asked as he kept his eyes closed.

Ishizu shook her head. “No, I just came to remind you all that you should go to sleep soon. It’s nearly midnight,” she informed the group.

“Seriously, already? Geez…” Jounouchi muttered.

Bakura sighed. “Aww, man…”

“Boo, that’s no fun!”

Although he didn’t join the others in complaining, Yuugi still sighed as he nodded in acknowledgment. “That’s good to know, thanks. We’ll go to bed soon,” he assured Ishizu.

Ishizu nodded back. “Alright then. Goodnight, everyone. Sleep well,” she said with a gentle smile.

“Thanks, you too!”

“Night!”

“Goodnight, Ishizu-san!”

“Goodnight, sister.”

Ishizu smiled, taking one last glance back at the group of teens- And laughing slightly once again, glancing at Marik, as she closed the door behind her.

Yuugi, Atem, and the others shared questioning glances, all clearly debating the same topic: whether or not they should actually go to sleep.

“How about we finish this, and then we can all take a picture together? And then we can go to sleep,” Anzu suggested.

“That works,” Marik decided, shrugging.

Yuugi nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

Atem glanced idly around the room as he waited for Yuugi and Anzu to finish. It was fairly quiet, a welcome break after all the talking and laughing they’d been doing for the past several hours; The only sounds for the moment were the sounds of the boat moving through the water, the ticking clock on the wall, quiet breaths, and the occasional soft clatter of supplies in Anzu’s makeup bag knocking together as she or Yuugi switched out their tools. The room was warm, and a little humid, though a cool breeze blew through the partially opened window, tickling Atem’s skin.

“Stop making fish lips!” Anzu exclaimed after a moment, snapping Atem’s attention away from the window.

“What?! Isn’t that how you’re supposed to put on lip stuff?”

“No!”

Atem winced. “Guys, not so loud,” he muttered in irritation.

“Sorry,” Anzu and Jounouchi both immediately whispered.

Anzu sighed, dropping her voice to a more quiet tone. “Just… Relax, but open your mouth a little, alright?”

Atem watched as Anzu brushed a light gloss onto Jounouchi’s lips, with steady, practiced hands; Yuugi, meanwhile, put a tube of black lipstick away in the bag before announcing, “Done!”

“Ooh, cute,” Bakura said, smiling in approval as Yuugi held up a mirror. “Thanks, Yuugi-kun!”

Yuugi grinned, happy to hear Bakura’s praise. “Glad you like it! Your turn, Atem!”

Atem sat down cross-legged in front of Yuugi just as Bakura got up, fidgeting and shifting around several times before finally finding a comfortable position. (Or as comfortable as he was going to get, anyway; The feeling of the floor on his thighs and his shorts bunched up around his knees was strange, but there was little he could do about it.) He fidgeted a little bit more, nervous yet not sure why, and glanced at Yuugi, sitting at equal height in front of him.

Atem met Yuugi’s gaze curiously as Yuugi stared at him with a thoughtful expression, tilting his head and frowning slightly in contemplation.

“Hmm… I think I’ll just do eyeliner on you, since I know makeup feels really weird if you’re not used to it, and I don’t want it to bother you too much,” he suggested, still with that same look on his face. “If you decide you feel up to it, maybe you could try some lipstick or something after.”

Atem nodded. “That’s probably a good idea,” he agreed.

With that, Atem closed his eyes, and waited patiently for Yuugi to start.

Sitting with his eyes closed made Atem feel wobbly somehow- Although maybe it just made him more aware of the ship’s movement, without any visuals to distract his senses. A moment later, he felt Yuugi start his task; He frowned, involuntarily scrunching up his face a bit at the touch.

“Sorry, I know it feels weird,” Yuugi laughed. “Try not to squint too much, ok?”

“Right. Sorry.”

Atem continued to wobble as Yuugi worked, and tried his best to hold still; The feeling of the brush on his eyelid felt strange, a little cold and almost pulling at his skin. It didn’t  _ hurt,  _ fortunately (not that it would have had any reason to), but it still felt decidedly odd, and it was hard to keep his face from twitching at the sensation.

“Hmm… Open your eyes for a sec?”

Atem obeyed, and watched curiously as Yuugi frowned at him once again, clearly contemplating something.

“...Alright, close your eyes again,” Yuugi said after a moment.

Atem did so.

“You know, it’s funny… I know how you like your eyeliner, but I’ve only ever done it on myself,” Yuugi commented with a slight awkward laugh. “It’s hard to do it from this angle.”

Atem hummed in response. “It’s ok. Just do your best.”

At the same time, Anzu finished her work on Jounouchi, and promptly wiped off her brushes on a paper towel before putting them away in the bag. “Alright, take a look in the mirror and tell me what you think,” she prompted.

Jounouchi did so, flipping open a blush compact. “Woah, cool! I look like Joan Jett!”

Honda gave a snort of disbelief from the bed. “Oh yeah? In what universe?”

“Aw, shut up, I still look cooler than you,” Jounouchi retorted, sticking his tongue out at Honda.

Atem couldn’t help but smile slightly in amusement at this exchange, though he tried to keep still. He waited patiently as Yuugi checked to make sure the eyeliner was symmetrical, adjusting it little by little here and there with tiny, careful brush strokes.

“Alright, I think that’s about the best I can do,” Yuugi announced after a moment. “You can go ahead and open your eyes now.”

Atem did so, and paused for a few seconds, blinking several times as his eyes readjusted to the light. Eventually he got his bearings, and stretched out casually, yawning as he glanced around at his friends’ looks.

“Alright then, should we take a picture?” Yuugi asked, standing up alongside Atem.

Anzu nodded. “Sure. Honda, since you’re  _ boring and unfashionable, _ you get to take the photo,” she said pointedly.

Honda rolled his eyes as Anzu searched through her duffle bag. “Fine by me.”

Anzu handed Honda a polaroid camera, as the others milled around confusedly, not quite sure how to arrange themselves.

“Your makeup looks great, Jounouchi-kun,” Bakura informed him as he waited for everyone to get together.

Jounouchi beamed. “Thanks! Yours does too! Anzu and Yuugi are the best at this,” he said with sincere enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, despite the initial hostility, Honda seemed to quickly take his role as photographer quite seriously. He frowned in thought, leaning from side to side and looking at the group from different angles, glancing up at the lights, fiddling with the camera…

“Ok, it looks like the best lighting is over by that wall,” he decided, pointing towards the side of the room. “Jounouchi, Bakura, Marik, you three are the tallest, so you stand in the back. Anzu, Yuugi, Atem, you guys get in front of them.”

Atem followed his friends to the spot in question. He lined up next to Yuugi, in the front row as instructed, and waited patiently for Honda to take the photo.

Honda shook his head. “Anzu, switch with Yuugi,” he ordered.

Yuugi frowned slightly. “But I want to stand next to Atem.”

“The composition is super unbalanced that way,” Honda explained. “It’s better to have Anzu in the middle.”

“Ooh, composition balance, aren’t you getting fancy?” Jounouchi teased.

“Do we  _ have _ to move?”

Honda rolled his eyes. “Ugh, fine then. Bakura, come stand next to Atem,” he decided.

“Oh, uh, ok then,” Bakura replied with slight confusion, but nonetheless obeyed.

Honda gave a nod of approval. “Alright, now Marik, Jounouchi, you two move over to your left more. Get behind Atem and Yuugi.”

“Can we take the picture now?” Marik wondered as he shuffled over.

“Almost,” Honda answered. “Now everybody get closer together.”

They did so.

“Closer,” Honda repeated, and with a number of sighs, the group obeyed; Atem felt slightly squished, with Yuugi on one side and Bakura on the other, but didn’t complain.

Honda checked the camera, moving around and getting closer until he felt satisfied with the framing. “Okay… Everybody smile!”

Atem gave what he hoped was a fairly normal-looking smile, though it felt more like an awkward grimace- He didn’t really know  _ how _ to smile properly, at least not on command.

“Bakura, you’re making a weird face-”

“Just take the damn picture already!” Jounouchi exclaimed impatiently, and with a slight irritated huff, Honda did so.

Atem blinked, startled by the sudden flash of light, but by the time he’d recovered the others had already rushed to look at the photo- Though at the moment, it was only a blank square.

“Man, I hate waiting for these things to develop,” Honda grumbled.

“You have to shake it,” Jounouchi told him. 

“Nah, that’s a myth.”

“Is it?”

“You know, I’ve always been confused about that,” Anzu said with a frown. “I’ve heard some people say that it helps it develop more evenly, some people say it’s bad for the photo… I never know what I should do, you know?”

“It looks like it’s starting to develop on its own, though,” Marik observed, and the rest of the group- having spread out a bit as they waited- all quickly crowded around to look. 

Atem wasn’t able to see more than a brief glimpse of the photo at first, too short to see past his taller friends. He stretched up on his tiptoes several times in an attempt to get a better look, but eventually gave up, crossing his arms and waiting with a mildly irritated expression for his friends to remember that he was there.

“Aww man, I  _ am _ making a weird face,” Bakura whined, shoulders slumping in disappointment at himself. 

“Yeah, and I blinked,” Anzu sighed.

(Atem shifted his position and rolled his eyes slightly, growing impatient.)

Jounouchi laughed, pointing to the photo. “We look like the world’s shittiest visual kei group,” he joked.

“Can I see?”

Atem sighed, suddenly realizing (with a little embarrassment) how pointlessly passive-aggressive he’d been, as Yuugi’s cheerfully simple request immediately got him the photo. As Yuugi took it from Honda, Atem leaned over his shoulder to get a closer look, along with a few of the others.

The photo had a slightly yellow hue to it, and was a tiny bit blurry- Though Honda’s obsessive nitpicking seemed to have paid off, as it was indeed very nicely framed. Atem’s gaze travelled around the photo from the top left corner, taking in all the colorfully decorated faces: Anzu, Jounouchi, Yuugi, Marik, Bakura, and-

“This is… Me?” Atem questioned, pointing to the figure next to Yuugi.

“Yup,” Yuugi replied.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? Who else would it be?”

“...Oh.”

There was something about Atem’s quiet “oh”- Simple, small, barely even a whisper- That made everyone suddenly… Understand. Nobody said a thing, all looking away in quiet, solemn respect as Atem wordlessly took the photo from Yuugi.

Atem practically forgot anyone else was there as he studied the photo closely, taking in every little inch of it, not looking away for even a second.

It felt a little unreal. The concept of a photo of himself…  _ He _ wasn’t supposed to be visible in photos, because he didn’t really exist, not physically anyway; Every time he thought about finding himself in the photo, his gaze automatically fell upon Yuugi- The face he’d imitated for so long, because he hadn’t known what he looked like. And yet he could tell from the picture that Yuugi was clearly  _ Yuugi,  _ and there was no mistaking the darker figure next to him; Atem knew, without a doubt, that that was his own face staring back at him.

The lighting wasn’t terribly flattering, and he had an odd, startled expression on his face, yet there he was, clear as day in a real polaroid. Real, tangible, physical proof that Atem was  _ real,  _ that he was  _ alive, _ not just a ghost whose existence went unknown to the world. There, he looked no different from his friends; The photo proclaimed his existence, yet it did so so blissfully casually, so simply, no big deal to be made of it. 

The camera did not discriminate. The camera did not talk about destiny, the camera did not deny his existence, the camera did not call him king. The camera merely photographed six ordinary teens in fun makeup at a sleepover.

Atem wasn’t really sure how to feel as he slowly, stiffly sat down on the bed, his wide eyes still glued to the photo like his life depended on it. He studied it with an almost hungry fervor, oblivious to the world around him as he took in every little detail with deep curiousity; He had never seen a photo of himself before.

Looking at the photo, he saw that he was the same height as Yuugi- though he’d known that already. Compared to the others, his skin was far darker than anyone else in the photo, save for possibly Marik; Closer inspection revealed that Marik did seem a little more pale (unsurprising, given that he’d spent most of his life underground). Atem’s body was slight and soft, like Yuugi, though he could see a tiny hint of muscle definition in what was visible of his shoulders and upper arms. His nose, lips, and facial structure were identical to Yuugi’s, but his eyes were a bit narrower, more angular, his eyebrows a bit lower set; His hair, too, was just a little bit more wild than Yuugi’s, though it still had the same colorful highlights, the same wavy tufts that stuck out in every direction like a cartoon character.

Every time he remembered that that was  _ him,  _ his heart skipped a beat. He felt a little bit like he was dreaming.

“You can keep the photo, if you want,” Anzu told him gently, sitting down next to him on the bed.

Atem gasped. “A-Are you sure..?” he asked, eyes widening in excitement, though his face betrayed uncertainty.

Anzu nodded. “Keep it. It’s yours.”

Atem said nothing at first, his mouth hanging open wordlessly, too overwhelmed with emotion to know how to respond. He looked at Anzu, and then back at the photo.

He gave a shaky smile, and held the polaroid close to his chest, as if afraid he might lose it.

Anzu watched him for a moment, with a clear look of concern on her face- But after a few seconds, she gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and a reassuring smile.

“Here, wipe your face off,” she suggested, holding something towards him. “After that we’ll go to bed.”

Atem glanced down to find that the object in Anzu’s hand was, in fact, a makeup remover wipe; It was then that he noticed that in the time he’d spent staring at the photo, the others had washed their faces completely, and were now setting up blankets and pillows on the floor. (He was incredibly grateful to them for leaving him be, rather than calling attention to his weird behavior.)

Shaking his head as he came back to reality, Atem placed the photo in his pocket- for the time being- and began wiping off his eyeliner. It took longer than it should have; The wipe was wet, and  _ cold  _ on top of that, and Atem wound up hastily pulling it away several times before he finally managed to get used to the feeling enough to wipe his face. Nonetheless, he eventually got himself all cleaned up, and tossed the wipe into the garbage before sitting down on top of one of the blankets.

“Man, I’m beat,” Honda said, yawning as if to emphasize this. “I hate to say it, but I can’t wait to go to sleep.”

“Yeah, me too,” Anzu agreed. “It’s been a loooong day.”

Yuugi nodded. “Yeah, I’m exhausted.”

“Me too- Although I’m kind of always tired, to be honest,” Bakura admitted.

“Lights out, then?” Marik prompted

The others exchanged questioning glances, and after a moment, nodded in confirmation; Marik, being the closest to the light switch, stood up to turn off the lights. As he did so, Yuugi lay down on the blanket, with Atem following suit.

“So this is gonna be Atem’s first night as an officially-alive-person, huh?” Jounouchi commented thoughtfully. “I hope you have nice dreams, bro.”

Atem smiled. “Thank you. I hope everyone else does, too.”

“Goodnight, guys,” Anzu said as the lights went out.

“G’night!”

“Night, guys!”

“Goodni- Ow! Marik-kun, that’s my _ foot!” _ Bakura whimpered.

“Sorry! I can’t really see,” Marik whispered back, sounding sincerely apologetic. (Atem couldn’t see much either, but heard Marik eventually lie down.) “Anyway, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, everyone,” Atem finished.

With that, the room finally went quiet. Yuugi wrapped his arms around Atem; Atem sighed softly and returned the gesture, snuggling close to Yuugi in the darkness.

Trying to fall asleep was… Strange, Atem thought. The darkness and the silence made him once again hyper-aware of his own body and sense of touch- Everything from the pillow under his head to the wrinkles in the blanket beneath him, to the chilly air on his bare skin, to Yuugi’s gentle breath on his cheek. Yuugi’s touch felt nice, while the rest of it mostly felt bad; All of it felt undeniably  _ there, _ and that was… Still so much more than he had ever thought he’d experience.

It still felt so unreal to him. The thought that he was here now, lying on the same floor as his friends, in his own body, after a night of laughing and talking and playing games with everyone else without having to watch from the sidelines, or pretend to be someone else… The fact that he could participate as an equal, a person in his own right, a kid like anyone else and not just some borderline mythical duelist… It felt too good to be true, and he took a deep breath and pressed himself closer to Yuugi, just to remind himself that he was still there.

(Yuugi seemed to sense Atem’s anxiety, and reached a hand up to gently stroke his hair, though he remained quiet. Once again, Atem felt grateful for Yuugi’s presence.)

Would it all even still be there in the morning, Atem wondered? Would  _ he _ still be there in the morning? He knew it didn’t seem sensible to think that he should somehow disappear overnight; It hadn’t seemed sensible to think that he could somehow get a body of his own, either.

The silence and the darkness seemed to taunt him, surrounding him from all sides, reminding him painfully clearly about what he was so afraid of going back to. Of course a physical room full of background noise and faint light from the window was nothing like the endless, deep  _ void _ he’d grown up in, but… but…

...He could feel his heart racing in his chest, making him feel a bit sick.

“H-Hey… Guys? Um… I hate to ask this, but… Actually, could we maybe stay up?” he asked, speaking as quietly as possible; He kind of regretted breaking the silence at all, but he couldn’t keep quiet about this. He _ needed _ to say something.

Jounouchi was the first to answer. “Eh, why not. I’m not really sleeping anyway,” he admitted. “What’s up?”

The others, however, were not as enthusiastic, if their sleepy groans were anything to go by.

“Uh… Stay up for how long?” Marik muttered.

“...All night?” Atem answered hesitantly.

The others once again groaned.

“Hell no!”

“All night? Man, are you crazy?”

Atem took in a sharp, shaky breath. “I-I know- I’m sorry, I just-”

“I would  _ die,”  _ Bakura interrupted him in a tired mumble. “I just wanna sleep.”

Next to Atem, Yuugi sighed. “You need your sleep too, you know. It’s late. Go to sleep, we’ll have plenty of time to-”

“No!” Atem blurted out, and he could feel Yuugi flinch slightly in surprise, hear the others go abruptly silent in shock. He immediately bit his lip, realizing how out of control his sudden outburst had been. “Oh, no, I- Fuck- I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I... Shit, I’m sorry,” he stammered, rolling onto his back and covering his face with one hand.

“Atem, are you ok?” Anzu asked, her voice serious and concerned.

“No,” Atem replied simply. (It wasn’t like there would be any point in trying to lie about it.)

“What’s wrong?”

Several of the others had sat up by this point, watching Atem with confused, worried looks. Atem shut his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see them staring- And then opened them again, quickly realizing he didn’t like the dark.

“...I just… I don’t want to die again,” he whispered.

“What do you mean? Why would you…” Marik’s voice trailed off, fading into quiet concern.

“Because! Because- I…” Atem paused, taking a deep breath; He needed to calm down. He put his hands over his face, and let out a long sigh before slowly taking them away.

The others watched quietly, waiting for him to continue.

“You have to understand… I’m a ghost. That’s what I’ve  _ always _ been,” he began. “And yes, I have always wanted to… To, you know, be a real person too, to be able to hang out with you guys like this… But it was always just wishful thinking to me. This whole thing-” He gestured to the room at large, and to himself- “It feels just as bizarre and impossible to me as it would to any of you if you woke up one day and suddenly you were a dinosaur. So… So maybe I’m just being irrational- I-I don’t know, maybe- Maybe it’s just the dark... f-freaking me out or something, I dunno, but…” He sighed. “I’m scared that if I go to sleep now, that’ll be it. That none of this will be here in the morning.” 

He rolled back onto his side to face Yuugi, covered his face, and closed his eyes again, not even caring about the dark anymore. He just… wanted to hide.

“I’m sorry,” Anzu whispered.

Next to Atem, Yuugi shook his head. “That’s not going to happen,” he promised. “There’s no reason why it would. You don’t have to be scared.”

“Yeah, and besides- We’re all here,” Honda added. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

Marik nodded in agreement. “If anything happened, we’d wake you up right away.”

Atem suddenly felt something touch his back, and glanced up, startled for a moment. He soon realized it was Jounouchi, who shuffled closer to him on the blanket, wrapping his arms around him protectively.

“Listen. Nobody here is going to let anything bad happen to you,” he told Atem quietly. “I don’t care if I have to fight Zorc, or Ishizu, or Anubis or Osiris or your creepy uncle or whoever the fuck else… There’s no way in hell I’m letting anyone or anything take you away again.”

Jounouchi squeezed Atem tight as he finished, and Atem could hear the emotion in his voice. He bit his lip; He knew Jounouchi well enough to pick up on what he wasn’t saying.

“You… Really didn’t want me to go, did you?” he whispered.

...Jounouchi paused, and then sighed.

“No. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want to sound like a selfish jerk, but… Shit, man, you’re one of my best friends! I’d hate to lose you just as much as I’d hate to lose Yuugi, or Honda, or Anzu, or hell, even Shizuka. I couldn’t stand the thought of you just… Going off and- and just fucking  _ dying _ just because someone else told you to,” he confessed, sniffling a little bit as he tried to keep his voice calm.

“I’m sorry,” Atem apologized quietly, and sincerely. “Honestly… I didn’t want to either. It felt wrong.”

“Then why did you?”

Atem paused, taken off guard by Yuugi’s sudden interruption. He finally opened his eyes, meeting Yuugi’s gaze in the darkness; He could see a level of seriousness in Yuugi’s eyes, questioning and even a little hurt.

“If you didn’t want to go… If you knew it was wrong… Then why did you go along with it?” Yuugi continued. “Why didn’t you just... Say no?”

Atem paused once again. Yuugi’s words cut surprisingly deep, he realized; He didn’t quite have an answer to give, and he remained quiet for a minute, trying to ask himself the same question.

“...I guess because it never occured to me that I could,” he admitted after a while.

“What do you mean?” Jounouchi asked.

“Like, for so long I didn’t know anything about myself, but Ishizu did. So I just… Assumed she knew better than me,” Atem explained, shrugging slightly. “Honestly, all my life things have just kind of… Happened to me, and I just went along with them. Even before… ...you know… I never wanted to be royalty. I never wanted to fight Zorc. I never wanted to kill myself. Those were just the positions I was put in, and there wasn’t really anything I could do about it. I’ve never had the luxury of saying no, so it’s never crossed my mind that I ever could,” he continued. “I’ve never had any control over my life. I just exist for other people to toss around.”

“I understand that feeling,” Bakura sighed.

Marik gave a snort of bitter, sad amusement. “Hey, look on the bright side: You handled it a hell of a lot better than I did,” he pointed out dryly.

“Not really, but sure.”

“The important part is that it’s all over now,” Yuugi interrupted, before the conversation could get any further in its downward spiral. “All of it. No one has to be manipulated anymore.”

“Right. You can make your  _ own  _ choices now, and we’ll be there to support you,” Anzu agreed. “That goes for you too, Marik, Bakura.”

“Thank you,” Bakura muttered.

Honda nodded. “None of you have to do anything you don’t want to ever again.”

“It’s all over now,” Yuugi repeated. “All the bad guys are gone. Everything’s ok.”

Atem went quiet again, listening to his friends’ words.

They were right, of course; All the people who had hurt him- And, by extension, everyone else- Were gone. There was no one he had to answer to, nor any threats to watch out for, no more innocent lives resting precariously on his shoulders. He didn’t have to constantly be on high alert anymore, constantly weighing outcomes and trying to make decisions to minimize the risk of other people getting hurt, even if the only way to do that meant putting his own life on the line.

He didn’t have to be the strong one anymore.

“...I… I guess you guys are right,” he admitted quietly after a moment.

Jounouchi nodded. “Besides, like I said, we won’t let anything bad happen to you,” he reiterated. “So you can just relax, and go to sleep. We’ll still be here in the morning, and so will you.”

“Jounouchi-kun is right,” Yuugi agreed, smiling reassuringly and reaching up to hold Atem’s hand between them. “Try to get some sleep, alright?”

Atem sighed, relaxing a little; He was sandwiched quite firmly between Yuugi and Jounouchi, and though anyone else might have felt uncomfortably squished, to him it was… Oddly comforting. For the first time in thousands of years, he felt like he was the one being protected, rather than the one doing the protecting. He hadn’t known how much he’d needed that.

For what may have been the first time in his life, Atem actually felt  _ safe. _

“Thank you,” he whispered softly, and he meant it. “I’ll… try to get some sleep. Thank you.”

Yuugi smiled, and nuzzled against Atem’s cheek, just as Jounouchi gave them both a reassuring squeeze. Atem sighed softly, and closed his eyes, feeling confident this time that the darkness would not hurt him.

It didn’t take long for him to drift off into a comfortable sleep, exhausted yet content.

* * *

Atem woke up several times during the night, heart racing at the memory of all sorts of threats. Yet he soon calmed down each time, as he felt the warm, soft pressure of his friends’ embrace, reminding him that everything was alright.

The one time he  _ didn’t  _ fall right back asleep was when Atem was awoken not by his own nightmares, but by the sound of movement. He opened his eyes just in time to see Bakura, attempting to shake Marik awake with a wide-eyed, panicked expression; Marik groaned tiredly, but Bakura whispered something Atem couldn’t hear, and suddenly Marik was up. He watched in confusion as the two of them rushed out of the room, being careful not to wake the others.

Atem frowned worriedly. Was something wrong? What had freaked Bakura out so badly, and why did Marik seem so serious about whatever he’d said? Instinctively, Atem began to get up to go after them- But was soon pulled back down, to his surprise.

Jounouchi mumbled something incomprehensible, and then pulled Atem closer, sighing in his sleep.

Atem bit his lip. Right. There was no way he could get up without disturbing the others, and they had all seemed so tired… Much as he was worried about Bakura and Marik, he didn’t want to wake the others. (And, truth be told, he was still pretty tired himself.)

He sighed, and lay back down. Whatever was going on with those two could wait until morning.

* * *

“Rise and shine, kids! Time to get up!”

A collective moan filled the room, as its occupants all instinctively tried to escape from the sudden loud interruption- Mentally, if not physically, at least. (Definitely not physically, as most of them weren’t awake enough to move much.)

“Grandpa,  _ why..?” _ Yuugi whimpered, curling in on himself slightly. 

Jounouchi groaned. “Five more minutes,” he mumbled. “Wanna sleep…”

Grandpa shook his head. “No, no five minutes. I’ve already given you all as much time as I can. You three have a plane to catch, remember,” he pointed out.

“Oh, right,” Jounouchi muttered. He gave a long, tired sigh, before reluctantly prying himself off Atem; They were both more than a little sticky with sweat, yet Atem still gave a disappointed whine at the sudden loss of warmth, shivering slightly as the air hit his back.

“What time is it..?” Anzu wondered as she slowly sat up. Her voice was just as tired as her face, and she yawned, rubbing at the gunk in her eyes. 

“It’s just after 11,” Grandpa answered. “You’re taking the 1:32 plane.”

“Couldn’t you have woken us up more gently, though?” Honda grumbled.

Grandpa gave a thoughtful hum. “Perhaps. In any case, we’re leaving in 15 minutes, so get yourselves ready. We’ll have breakfast at the airport.”

With that, grandpa left the room. The remaining group groaned in irritation yet again, slowly picking themselves up off the floor like a pack of hungover panda bears.

“Alright, everyone get out so I can get dressed,” Anzu yawned, shooing the boys towards the door with half-hearted, lazy waves.

Atem wordlessly followed the others out of the room, too asleep to say anything. His body felt weirdly heavy, his brain was slow to process things, and he felt like he could barely keep his eyes open. Dimly, some part of his mind thought that this was almost certainly cause for concern and he should probably tell Yuugi that something was wrong; The rest of it, however, was far too out of it to communicate this, and silently followed Yuugi as if on autopilot.

Once they made it back to their room, Atem slumped down in his chair, closing his eyes and enjoying not having to stand up. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed- Could have been seconds, could have been hours- When he felt something poke his arm, prompting him to open his eyes. 

“Don’t fall asleep again,” Yuugi advised (though he himself looked pretty tired), and held out a set of clothes. “Here. Unfortunately I only packed one spare pair of underwear, so you’ll have to stick with what you’ve got for now,” he said apologetically.

Atem wasn’t quite sure what he had attempted to say in response, but either way, what came out was a tired grunt. He took a deep breath, and reluctantly peeled himself off the chair.

His head hurt.

By the time Atem finally finished getting dressed, Yuugi was already dressed as well, and was in the process of trying to fit all of Atem’s jewelry into his relatively small luggage bag. (This, admittedly, would have been easier if the vast majority of space in the bag hadn’t already been taken up by Duel Monsters cards, but the fact remained that fitting them in the bag was easier said than done.) Once Yuugi had finally managed to shove the last of it into a side pocket, he sighed, stood up, and handed Atem a hairbrush.

“Here, brush your hair and then we’ll go. You can skip brushing your teeth for now, I only have one toothbrush anyway,” Yuugi told him.

Atem took the hairbrush from Yuugi… And stared blankly at it for several seconds, as his sluggish brain tried to process the task he’d been given. After a while, he slowly brought it up to his head, and hesitantly sort of… Waved it, vaguely, in the general direction of his hair, which he found to not accomplish very much.

Yuugi watched Atem for a moment, before raising an eyebrow and frowning. “Here, I’ll do it,” he decided, holding out his hand for the brush.

Atem handed Yuugi the brush, and followed him to the bed, where Yuugi sat down on the edge. “Sit down on the floor,” he ordered.

Atem did as he was told, and soon felt Yuugi start brushing his hair with steady, practiced hands. Atem sighed, leaning back against Yuugi’s knees; The brush combing through his hair felt surprisingly nice, like-

_ “Ow!” _ he hissed as he felt his hair suddenly get pulled, and instinctively brought a hand up to rub at the tender spot on his scalp.

“Sorry,” Yuugi apologized quickly. 

He resumed brushing, a little more slowly and carefully this time. He managed to keep it up for a few seconds before hitting another knot, and then another; The pain seemed to get exponentially worse each time, until it was almost too much for Atem to bear, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

“Stop, that hurts!” Atem pleaded, grabbing at his hair in a futile attempt to stop the pain.

“I’m sorry! I’m not trying to hurt you, I promise,” Yuugi insisted, sounding genuinely apologetic. “I’m trying my best to be gentle, but this side is all full of knots from when you slept on-”

Yuugi didn’t get to finish, as Atem abruptly pulled his head away, stumbling to his feet and away from the bed. A small sob escaped his throat as he stood in the middle of the room, squeezing his eyes shut and pressing his hands firmly against his head to try to stop the waves of throbbing, stabbing pain; He couldn’t seem to move or speak, too overwhelmed with pain. He pressed his hands harder and harder into his skull, desperate to make it stop, but the pain wouldn’t go away. He knew on some level that he’d experienced far worse, but in the moment, it seemed like the most awful thing he’d ever felt.

“Hey, are you ok?” Yuugi asked him worriedly.

It was all Atem could do to shake his head. He felt absolutely immobilized with pain, desperately praying for it to go away, but it wouldn’t stop. It seemed to crowd out all his other senses, making his ears ring and his eyes screw firmly shut, and the fact that it had managed to render him so completely helpless scared him a little.

“Shh, shh, it’s ok,” Yuugi whispered, bringing a hand up to touch Atem’s ever so gently, stroking his head slowly with a touch far more delicate than how he’d brushed his hair. “It’s ok. You’re ok. It’ll stop in a minute,” he promised, speaking softly.

“...H-Hurts so much,” Atem whimpered breathlessly, just barely managing to regain enough control over himself to speak.

“I know,” Yuugi replied with a sad, gentle sigh and a worried frown. “I’m sorry. I should have warned you… I guess you’re not used to pain, huh.”

Atem’s only response was a faint whimper as he continued to clutch his head. He stood there for what felt like forever, with Yuugi still stroking his head and whispering reassurances, until the pain eventually- finally- receded enough to reach a somewhat manageable level.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, and slowly, shakily put his arms back down.

“Are you ok now?” Yuugi asked quietly.

Atem sniffled, wiping his eyes on the back of his wrist. “N-No, but… Close enough,” he answered, voice hoarse and shaky.

Yuugi bit his lip, and rubbed Atem’s shoulder comfortingly. “I’m really sorry you had to deal with that. We should hurry and catch up with the others, though,” he realized.

Atem nodded, sniffling once again, and watched as Yuugi slipped on his backpack and- with some difficulty- picked up the heavy sports bag, slinging it over his shoulder and stumbling slightly with the sudden added weight.

“I think your jewelry weighs more than the cards do,” Yuugi awkwardly joked.

Atem couldn’t even bring himself to crack a smile.

Yuugi sighed, and held out his hand to Atem. Atem took it automatically, and followed Yuugi out the door and down the hall.

The late morning sun was blinding as Yuugi and Atem stepped outside, slowly making their way down the boarding ramp, where they found the rest of their group already waiting at the bottom. Outside was hot compared to the boat, and noisy, too, with the steady rush of the river combining with the background noise of the docks to assault Atem’s ears from all sides. He winced, squeezing Yuugi’s hand a bit tighter as he followed him down.

“There you two are. Good morning,” Ishizu said, nodding in greeting at Yuugi and Atem. “Did you sleep alright?”

“Yeah, mostly,” Yuugi replied with a sigh. (Atem simply shrugged.) “Morning, everyone.”

The rest of the group waved, greeting them with various “good morning”s- Except for Bakura, who remained oddly quiet, a tired look on his face.

“Geez, you look like shit,” Honda told Atem, frowning slightly. “No offense, of course.”

“None taken- I feel like it, too,” Atem mumbled.

“Now that everyone’s here, we should decide who’s sitting where,” Rishid announced, speaking a bit loudly to ensure he was heard over the noise. “We have two cars. One of them can fit seven people, and the other can fit five, although it’s a tight squeeze.”

“How about we do me, you, and Bakura in the smaller car, and go from there?” Marik suggested.

Yuugi frowned in confusion. “Why Bakura?”

Bakura and Marik exchanged glances, but didn’t answer. They didn’t really have to, however, as the question was soon forgotten in the midst of all the other answers.

“I want to ride with Yuugi and Atem,” Jounouchi decided.

“Yeah, me too,” Anzu agreed with a nod. “After all, we won’t see each other for a while. I want to spend as much time together as possible.”

“Then that’s five people in the big car,” Rishid counted. “You could try to fit two more, or someone could ride with us.”

The group exchanged pondering glances.

“I’ll go with Ishizu and the kids, if that’s alright,” Grandpa decided.

“Yuugi and Atem are small, so it wouldn’t be that much of a squeeze if we all went together, right?” Jounouchi said with a thoughtful look. “Honda, you in?”

Honda shrugged. “Sure, let’s try it.”

Yuugi couldn’t help but notice the odd look of relief on Bakura and Marik’s faces as they came to this decision, and frowned slightly. What was _ that _ about? He was almost tempted to ask, but thought the better of it; He had enough to worry about already, and it was too damn early for half of it anyway. His priority had to be making sure Atem was alright, for now. If it came down to it he could check on Bakura and Marik later.

Speaking of Atem…

Yuugi glanced over at his Other Self, who looked… Well, as Honda had so delicately put it, like shit. His half-brushed hair was frizzy and tangled, his eyes red and watery and baggy and half-closed with sleep. His posture was tense, yet slouched over, and his expression seemed to mirror this. He stumbled after the others like a zombie (not that any of the other kids were much more awake, really), wincing at every car that went by, as they followed the Ishtars down the street towards where the cars were parked.

After a short walk, they reached what they would evidently be riding in: A shiny black SUV, and a significantly more battered sedan, the latter of which had clearly seen better days. 

“I wouldn’t try getting in street side if I were you guys,” Marik advised, before climbing into the old sedan, clambering over the center console to sit comfortably in the passenger seat.

As the group began putting away their luggage and slowly finding their seats, Atem slumped over onto Yuugi, resting his forehead on Yuugi’s shoulder while his arms dangled limply. This was accompanied by a gentle _ thud _ and a noise somewhere between a grunt and a whimper.

“You ok?” Yuugi asked, frowning slightly.

“Eergh,” Atem grunted vaguely in response. “Feel like… absolute garbage.”

“What’s wrong?”

Atem sighed. “I dunno… It’s like I can’t think right… And my head hurts and my stomach is all weird and stabby, also I feel like my eyes are going to fall out? Everything sucks and I want it to stop,” he described, his voice tired and flat.

Yuugi laughed slightly, and gave Atem a sympathetic pat on the back. “Yeah, that’s just how waking up is. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it eventually.”

Atem was quiet for several seconds.

“...Wait. You mean this is… Normal?” he questioned, after a long delay.

Yuugi shrugged, and followed Anzu into the SUV. “More or less, yeah.”

“Kill me.”

Yuugi blinked. “What?”

“I am _ not  _ dealing with this bullshit every goddamn day of my life,” Atem insisted, as he climbed into the car behind Yuugi. “Absolutely not. Can’t do it, won’t do it, I refuse. Hurry up and put me out of my misery, I wanna be a ghost again,” he decided.

“Oh, stop being a baby,” Yuugi replied.

“Being alive is  _ suffering,”  _ Atem moaned, throwing his head back against the car seat dramatically. “Just let me be a ghost!”

“I’m with you on everything but the suicide part,” Jounouchi added. He glanced over his shoulder to raise an eyebrow at Atem, frowning slightly in concern.

Atem huffed. “Listen. I _ like  _ being a ghost,” he insisted.

“That’s sure not what you said last night, but ok, dude.”

“When you’re a ghost, you don’t have to wake up feeling like absolute shit,” Atem grumbled. “You don’t have to eat any stupid gross bread, you don’t have to wear stupid shitty itchy clothes, you don’t have to brush your stupid fucking hair-”

“When we get to the airport, I think I should introduce you to the wonderful modern invention called ‘coffee’,” Anzu decided with a slow nod.

Atem whipped his head around to glare at Anzu, as Ishizu started the car. “I  _ don’t  _ need any goddamn coffee!” he snarled.

Just as Anzu raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to respond, the car suddenly lurched to life, and turned directly into the street without so much as a turn signal.

That whole “dying a second time and becoming a ghost again” thing suddenly didn’t seem too out of the picture, Atem thought.

The Egyptians had never quite subscribed to the concept of hell- Instead of your options after death being either Heaven or Hell, it was more like Heaven or Death 2: Electric Boogaloo- Yet if such a thing were to exist, Atem was quite certain Cairo traffic was it. The car shuddered and swerved with all the grace of a laggy game of Mario Kart, dodging through tightly packed lines of cars as if traffic laws were a mere suggestion, all while trying to avoid other cars attempting the same thing; The sharp turns and abrupt stops slammed the car’s occupants in every direction with little warning, and if Anzu hadn’t had the quick thinking to throw her arm around him at just the right moment, Atem realized that he and Yuugi would almost certainly both have wound up with concussions. (He’d been a little irritated by the sudden grab at first, until he realized just how dangerously close his skull had come to Yuugi’s, and soon found himself quite grateful for Anzu’s reflexes.) All the while, an endless tirade of car horns blaring and people shouting assaulted Atem’s eardrums like slaps in the face, doing little good for his already-pounding head.

The drive, unfortunately, did not get any gentler after the initial rocky start. How long they were in the car, Atem didn’t know, but he very quickly came to the conclusion that he’d rather be literally anywhere else.

“It’s a good thing rush hour is over,” Ishizu said casually as she brought the car to an abrupt stop at a light, throwing its passengers backwards. “Traffic is good today, so we should be at the airport before long.” Even as she finished speaking, she slammed on the car horn, rolling down the window and shouting something in furious Arabic at a pedestrian.

“If anyone makes it to the airport alive, tell my sister I love her,” Jounouchi whimpered.

* * *

_ Meanwhile, elsewhere… _

“Oh,” Marik said softly, blinking as they came to a red light.

Rishid raised an eyebrow questioningly. “‘Oh’?”

“We… Forgot to warn them about Ishizu’s driving,” Marik realized.

_ “...Oh,”  _ Rishid said with a slow, solemn nod of understanding.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Bakura added.

* * *

By the time the group finally got out in the airport parking lot, Atem and Yuugi were trembling like leaves, Jounouchi was practically on the verge of tears, and Honda looked a little bit like he might be about to throw up.

“Oh, my old joints did not like that,” Grandpa muttered as he stood up, stretching out with a wince and several audible cracks.

“I… Driving in Japan isn’t like that, right?” Atem blurted out.  _ “Please  _ tell me I’m not remembering wrong? Right?”

“No, that was definitely a… Uniquely Egyptian experience,” Anzu replied, with an expression somewhere between concern, fear, pity, and disappointment.

Jounouchi shuddered. “I’m  _ never _ making fun of taxi drivers in New York ever again.”

If the car was a nightmare, the airport was simply one with more open space. Even just the walk from the parking lot to the building was crowded by beeping cars, chattering people, and the loud growl of rolling luggage. Hazy clouds of cigarette smoke floated over the sidewalk, tickling Atem’s throat and leaving a nasty scent in his nose.

Atem clung closely to Yuugi, shrinking in on himself as they pushed through the crowd; As soon as they made it inside, a blast of air conditioning hit Atem like a frigid tidal wave, and his eyes burned from sunlight the large windows amplified a thousand times over. By the time their group had managed to get past the worst of the crowd, Atem had elected to squeeze his eyes shut, cover one ear, and let Yuugi pull him along. 

He didn’t open his eyes until he felt something tap him on the arm several times. He slowly, hesitantly opened his eyes and lowered his arm, to find Yuugi staring at him with a look of concerned sympathy.

“Did you hear what grandpa said?” Yuugi asked.

Atem winced. “I can’t hear _ anything  _ in this noise,” he muttered in response.

“Ishizu and I are going to go with the kids through check-in,” Grandpa explained. “You two, Bakura-kun, and the Ishtar boys are going to go find tables in the little cafe.”

“We’re… What? Sorry, say that again?” Atem asked with a frown, his mind too distracted by the chattering around him to focus on Grandpa’s voice.

“You’re going to go find us tables in the cafe,” Grandpa repeated.

Atem’s frown deepened. “What..?”

Grandpa sighed slightly, repeating a bit more slowly and clearly. “There is a cafe,” he explained. “You boys are going to go find-”

“Oh, ok,” Atem blurted out, as his sluggish brain  _ finally _ processed what had been said. “Will you be back..?”

Grandpa nodded. “Once the kids are all checked in, we’ll meet up with you.”

With some reluctance, Atem kept his eyes open this time as he followed Yuugi, Bakura, Marik, and Rishid through the maze of an airport and into the small cafe area. After a brief moment of searching, they soon spotted an open table, and carefully squeezed past tables and chairs to sit down.

“Here, pull that other table over,” Marik said, nodding towards the empty table next to them. Atem glanced over to-

**_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE_ **

Atem winced, involuntarily hissing in pain at the sudden, absolutely horrible noise of the table scraping against the ground as Rishid dragged it towards them. Just as Atem thought it was over, Rishid and Bakura grabbed the two chairs that went along with it, mercilessly subjecting his poor ears to another round of torture.

Atem took a deep breath, folded his arms on top of the table, put his head down and screamed quietly into his elbows.

“Are… Are you ok?” Marik asked worriedly.

“I’d like to go home,” Atem muttered, his voice muffled by his arms against the table.

“Home as in- Domino City, or ancient Egypt..?”

“I don’t know, I don’t care, I just hate this stupid airport,” Atem sighed.

As he remained there, eyes closed and body tensed, Atem felt a gentle tap on the back of his shoulder. He gave a muffled grunt in response, not quite caring enough to move.

“We’re going to go get in line for food,” Yuugi told him. “Will you be ok here by yourself?”

“Mmph,” Atem replied.

He didn’t have to look up to see the confused look on Yuugi’s face. “Is that a yes, or..?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Atem answered, sighing deeply. “‘S not like I’m going anywhere.”

Yuugi frowned, but took Atem’s answer as good enough. He gave him a slow, gentle pat on the back before following the others towards the sales area.

While a fair number of basic items- Granola bars, bottled water, cereal, fruit, chips- Were simply set out for immediate purchase, it was clear that certain other options had to be ordered at the counter. Yuugi frowned in concentration, staring at the menu as he tried to decipher the English written underneath the Arabic- And soon crashed into Bakura, having forgotten to look where he was going.

“Oh! Sorry, Bakura-kun,” he apologized quickly. “Guess I should pay more attention to where I’m walking, huh?” he added, with a slight nervous laugh.

Bakura immediately tensed, staring silently at Yuugi with wide eyes for a few seconds. It wasn’t until he saw Yuugi frown in concern that he relaxed, standing up straight again and almost faking a smile, though he seemed to only manage a somewhat neutral expression at best.

“Sorry, Yuugi-kun,” he muttered. “I-I mean, uh… That’s ok,” he corrected himself. 

“Hey… Are you ok?” Yuugi asked him quietly. “You’ve been kind of on edge all morning. Is something wrong?”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Bakura insisted, shaking his head and forcing an awkward smile. “Just… Um, the car ride made me nervous, that’s all. You know, uh, Cairo traffic is pretty intense, ha...”

Yuugi’s frown deepened. It was clear Bakura was lying; Not only was it written all over his face, but he’d quite obviously been acting off since long before they’d gotten in the car. If he hadn’t known better, Yuugi would almost have suspected that his poor friend was being possessed again… But the Other Bakura was long gone, and the Millennium Ring was still back at the temple. 

Bakura was clearly hiding something, something that seemed to be scaring him- but whatever it was, it wasn’t an evil spirit. (Or at least, not the usual evil spirt, anyway.)

Yuugi shook his head. “Seriously, what’s bothering you? You can tell me anything, you know,” he prompted, trying to sound gentle, smiling reassuringly for good measure despite the worried look in his eyes.

Bakura’s eyes widened once again. He seemed to start to answer, and then stop, and then start, and then stop again; Finally, he lowered his head and looked away.

“I… I can’t. Not this time, Yuugi-kun, or at least not now. I’m…” He shook his head. “I’m not ready.”

This did little to reassure Yuugi, but he decided not to press the matter. “Oh, well… Alright then. If you change your mind, I’ll be here. I hope you feel better soon,” he added.

Bakura smiled- A small, tired smile, barely even there, but genuine this time. “Thank you.”

Yuugi nodded, and after letting his gaze linger worriedly on Bakura for just a moment longer, he returned to his task of deciphering the menu.

Meanwhile, back at the table…

Atem remained where he was, slumped over on the table, trying his best to ignore the chaos around him. His eyes were closed, his breathing slowed, his shoulders blocking out the noise ever so slightly; He could almost have fallen asleep, until-

“Hey, Atem,” he heard Marik shout from the checkout line. “You should keep an eye on your stuff. Don’t let anyone try to steal it.”

Atem groaned. Of course.

“Ugh, okay,” he half-shouted back. 

With a long, deep sigh and an infinite amount of reluctance, he slowly dragged himself back up to a proper sitting position, blinking and squinting as his eyes readjusted to the bright light of the airport. He slumped back in his chair, and took a glance at Yuugi’s bag and Bakura’s small suitcase, sitting on the floor next to the table. 

Yep, still there. Part of him wanted to call that good enough and go back to hiding like a hungover vampire, but he knew that Marik… Did have a good point, really. And so, reluctantly, he stayed sitting up, watching their luggage and occasionally glancing back at Yuugi and the others.

God, his head hurt.

After what Atem guessed must have been about ten minutes, the rest of the group returned, carrying with them trays of hot food and drinks. Atem sighed, relaxing slightly now that he was off guard duty.

Yuugi sat down across from him, and placed a cup of coffee and a small container of something Atem didn’t recognize on the table in front of him, in addition to his own food.

“Here. The coffee should help with your headache, hopefully,” Yuugi informed him. “As for the cereal, I know you didn’t seem to like wet or chewy food yesterday, so I thought today maybe you could try something dry and crunchy and see if you like that better,” he explained.

“Why?” Atem asked.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. “Because you need to eat..? I mean, you’ve been alive for…” He paused for a second, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Just about 20 hours now, and you haven’t even eaten enough to qualify as a snack, let alone a meal. You must be starving! No wonder your stomach hurts, poor thing.”

Atem paused, frowning and looking down at his belly as if noticing it for the first time. “Is  _ that _ why it feels all stabby?” he wondered.

“Yeah, the stabby feeling means you’re hungry. Try some cereal,” Yuugi repeated.

Atem nodded, and opened the container. He stared at it in distaste for a moment, not even bothering to pick up the spoon; He  _ really  _ didn’t want to eat…

...But he knew Yuugi was right. He couldn’t put it off forever. Besides, if it would help with his stomach pain…

Atem bit his lip, steeled his nerves, and hesitantly picked up a small spoonful of cereal.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t all that bad- Or at least, it wasn’t as horrible as everything else had been. The cereal tasted similar to bread, yet seemed to melt away far quicker, with less of the chewy, heavy goopiness to stick in his teeth and throat. Atem ate about three spoonfuls (albeit rather slowly), and then reached for the coffee to rinse it all down.

The coffee, on the other hand, he nearly spit out on instinct. It had an alarmingly strong taste that took him completely by surprise. It tasted… What was that, burnt? Sour? No, bitter, he realized, that was the word. It tasted horribly bitter. Not to mention it was hot, nearly hot enough to burn his tongue. He shuddered as he swallowed it, his whole face wrinkling up in distaste.

“Careful, don’t burn yourself,” Yuugi warned him.

“I-I’m fine,” Atem gasped, and shuddered yet again as he somewhat reluctantly took another sip; The coffee may have tasted like charcoal (with flames included), but god, he really just wanted his head to stop pounding. If drinking liquid evil would achieve this, then it was a small price to pay. (Besides, his body didn’t seem to violently reject liquid the way it did with food, so that was… A victory, he supposed, if a pathetic one.)

He kept this up for some time- Alternating between slowly doing his best to eat the cereal, and emotionally curling up in disgust as he drank what tasted to his tongue like milky rock juice. The others watched him with a mixture of concern and amusement, though he was too focused on making sure that what he put in his mouth  _ stayed _ there to notice them staring.

“Uh, do you like… Do you want some sugar, or cream, or something..?” Marik asked, raising an eyebrow at Atem.

“What?”

“For your coffee,” Marik clarified. “You keep making a face like it’s too bitter.”

Atem frowned. “You mean it’s not  _ supposed  _ to taste this horrible?” he questioned, picking the cup up and examining it as if he expected to somehow find the source of the nasty taste.

Marik laughed, and shook his head. “Not if you don’t want it to, no. Some people like their coffee dark, but it’s totally ok to sweeten it a bit if it’s too bitter for you.”

“I did already put a little sugar and milk in it, but I guess it wasn’t enough,” Yuugi admitted, tilting his head apologetically. “I’ll go get some more.”

Atem waited patiently as Yuugi made a quick run over to the counter, and grabbed a few packets of sugar and a small cup of cream. Yuugi wasn’t the only one to return a moment later- Atem jumped in surprise and winced as he heard the chair next to him scrape against the floor, and turned to find Anzu seated next to him.

“Hey! How are you doing, any better?” she greeted him.

Atem hissed slightly as he very, very slowly relaxed from the tense position he’d wound up in after flinching at the noise. 

“Not particularly,” he muttered. “And this coffee tastes… God, I don’t know why anyone would drink this,” he admitted, shaking his head in disbelief.

“Then why are you drinking it?” Anzu asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Because my head is killing me and Yuugi said it’d help,” Atem grumbled in response.

“If it makes you feel any better, this ful is… Not very good,” Rishid admitted, frowning slightly at the bowl of bean stew in front of him. “Certainly overpriced, at least.”

Next to him, Marik shrugged. “Eh, that’s airports for you,” he said, leaning casually back in his chair. “They’re just tourist traps that don’t even bother making any effort to actually be enjoyable.”

“Mm, pretty much,” Grandpa agreed.

After a moment, Yuugi handed Atem his coffee. “Here, try now. I put some more sugar and cream in it, so hopefully it should be less bitter now.”

Atem sighed, and hesitantly took a sip of the coffee, praying that maybe it would taste alright- And to Yuugi’s credit, it did taste slightly less horrendous, though it was still far from ideal. He took another sip, and then took a moment to recover slightly before making another attempt at eating cereal.

“I’m sorry you’re not feeling well, bro,” Jounouchi told Atem, frowning sympathetically. “I hope-”

Jounouchi was cut off by a sudden loud, booming announcement over the airport’s loudspeaker system; Atem couldn’t even tell what language it was in, let alone what was said, as it may as well have been someone crumpling aluminum foil into a megaphone next to his ear. Atem abruptly slammed his hands against the table and bit his tongue to resist the urge to scream, startled and in pain and very,  _ very  _ fed up with all this nonsense.

Yuugi watched with a concerned expression. Atem looked about five minutes away from either bursting into tears or committing a homicide, and Yuugi wasn’t very fond of either of those possibilities, really.

“Here,” Anzu said, pulling a small plastic tube out of her purse and handing it to Atem. “For your headache. Take two.”

Atem took the tube, blinking in confusion until he recognized it as a container of pain medication. “Thanks,” he muttered as he uncapped it, pouring two pills into his hand. Bracing himself for yet another unpleasant experience, he shoved the pills directly from his hand into his mouth. 

His whole body tensed and shuddered and wrinkled in disgust at what was quite possibly the worst of everything he’d tried so far. The pills were bitter, but a different kind of bitter from the coffee, more artificial and unnatural; They felt like eating chalk, crunchy and powdery and gross. He damn near vomited, quickly placing a hand over his face, but forced himself to chew and swallow. As soon as he’d swallowed, he gasped, grabbed the cup of coffee, chugged a good quarter or so of it in one go, and then gasped again.

“God, why does medicine have to taste so bad?” he wondered in a weak voice, and shuddered again, still grimacing at the feeling.

It wasn’t until he finally looked up that he noticed the rest of the group, staring at him with wide-eyed, slack-jawed expressions of pure shock and astonishment.

_ “Dude!” _ Jounouchi exclaimed.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You’re not supposed to  _ chew it!” _ Bakura blurted out in horror.

“Well what am I supposed to do with it, then? Swallow them whole?” Atem retorted sarcastically, giving a snort of disbelief.

_ “Yes!” _

Atem blinked, raising both eyebrows at this group-wide exclamation. “Oh… well… You could have mentioned that earlier.”

Yuugi sighed. “Well, whatever. Hopefully it’ll still work.”

Atem sighed as well, and gently pushed the half-eaten container of cereal away from him. “I think I’m done eating. I’m… not sure I can stomach anything else after  _ that.” _

“It’s good that you were able to eat some of it,” Grandpa assured him with a gentle smile.

Atem leaned against the table, resting on his elbows and closing his eyes, waiting quietly for the others to finish their food and praying that his headache would go away. (Or that the airport would stop being such a horrible environment, but one of those things was marginally more likely to happen than the other.) He began to zone out after a few minutes, as his friends’ voices gradually mingled with the rest of the noise, creating an unintelligible static. He-

Another loud, crackling announcement came over the loudspeaker, causing Atem to sit bolt upright and press his hands over his ears. It felt like forever before the announcement finally finished, and Atem hesitantly, tentatively put his hands down.

“God, I forgot this place has the world’s most garbage sound system,” Marik grumbled, though Atem only understood about half of what he’d said.

Yuugi reached across the table and took Atem’s hand, rubbing his thumb across the back comfortingly; Atem sighed, squeezing Yuugi’s hand in return.

“At least it won’t be long before boarding time,” Yuugi said softly.

“What?” Atem mumbled, still too stunned, too distracted by a thousand sounds to focus on anything anyone was saying.

“I said it won’t be long before boarding time,” Yuugi repeated. “After we say goodbye to the others, we can go back to the hotel. It should be more quiet there.”

Atem nodded, though he said nothing.

“Man, it sucks that you two can’t come home with us,” Honda said, frowning in disappointment. “I know it’ll only be a few days, but-”

“If I don’t see my friends for more than 24 hours, I’ll  _ die,” _ Jounouchi lamented, throwing his head back dramatically. “Besides, I kinda wish we’d gotten to stay here a little longer. I wanted to look for the roadroller bridge.”

“What bridge?” Marik asked curiously.

“You know, from the end of Jojo,” Jounouchi explained.

Marik gave him a confused stare.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. “You know, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure? When Jojo fought Dio on the bridge and he did the whole ‘Wryyyyyyyyy’ thing and threw a roadroller at him, but then Jojo was all ‘Plot twist, it was  _ me _ who stopped time! Oraoraora!’ and then-”

“I… Don’t really have any idea what you’re talking about,” Marik admitted, sounding a bit sheepish. “Sorry.”

“You don’t know Jojo?!” Jounouchi gasped. “Man, and here I thought everyone in Egypt would know it!”

“That’s ridiculous,” Anzu said, rolling her eyes. Marik simply shrugged.

Jounouchi groaned. “Aw, man… Marik, dude, one of these days you gotta come back to Japan and then you can read the whole thing. And then we can watch the anime, too!”

Marik blinked, still looking rather lost on the whole conversation. “Oh… um… Sure?”

“Aw, but the anime sucks,” Honda butted in.

“No it doesn’t!” Jounouchi gasped.

“I thought it was good,” Yuugi added, shrugging slightly. “The animation was really cool.”

“Dude, Kakyoin looked like a mattress with sunglasses.”

“I mean, yeah, I guess, but…”

(Meanwhile, Atem leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and eyes closed, listening idly to the conversation in the background. If he hadn’t been feeling so miserable, he would have smiled; It was little moments like this that he was going to miss. No drama, no danger, no heavy topics, just lighthearted debating over comic books between friends at the breakfast table. 

Normal kid things. The sort of thing he wished his life had had more of.)

“Anyway, Bakura. If you find it, you gotta take a picture for us, alright?”

Bakura blinked, looking a bit… Distant, as if he hadn’t been paying attention, lost in thought about something else. “What?”

“The bridge,” Jounouchi repeated. “If you find it, take a picture, I wanna see.”

“What bridge?”

Jounouchi smacked a palm against his forehead. “Aw, come on! We  _ just  _ had this conversation!”

“The bridge from the final fight of the third Jojo,” Yuugi explained helpfully.

“Oh.” Bakura gave a small nod, looking unconvinced. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

“Hey, Bakura, are you ok?” Honda asked, frowning worriedly. “You’ve been acting weird all day. It’s like you’re off in another dimension.”

“I’m fine,” Bakura insisted. “Just tired, that’s all.”

Yuugi raised an eyebrow; This was not the excuse Bakura had given him earlier. If there had been any possible doubt before that Bakura was hiding something, there was no denying it now. Something was definitely up.

What was Yuugi supposed to do, though? It was clear Bakura didn’t want to talk about whatever was bothering him, and if Yuugi was being honest, the middle of the airport while everyone was eating breakfast and waiting for their plane and Atem was dealing with a nasty combo of sensory overload and sleep deprivation was… Really not the best time or place to have a serious confrontation. Yuugi’s gut instinct told him that he shouldn’t let this go unaddressed, but… There was little he could do  _ to  _ address it, at the moment.

He frowned, biting his lip. He’d have to try to talk to Bakura later, after the others left.

As he debated this with himself, another loud, garbled announcement came over the loudspeaker. Yuugi watched worriedly as Atem once again pressed his hands over his ears, glaring daggers at the nearest speaker. (Yuugi idly wondered how many more announcements it would take before Atem took it upon himself to get rid of the speaker, or if he was too tired for that.)

“That would be you,” Ishizu realized, glancing up at the speaker.

“Alright, everyone, make sure you clean up your trash,” Grandpa said, as he stood up with a yawn and began tidying his own breakfast. The others soon followed suit, gathering up all the empty plates, cups, napkins, and so forth and carrying them to the garbage.

“Man, I didn’t get to finish my falafel,” Honda whined, frowning in disappointment as he dumped it into the open garbage can. “Oh well.”

“Did the medicine help, Atem?” Anzu asked as she picked up her bag.

Atem frowned in confusion, trying to figure out whether or not his headache had gotten any better- And then winced as someone pushed their chair in, scraping it against the floor with a deafening screech.

Atem’s only response wound up being an irritated noise somewhere between a hiss and a growl. Anzu gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“Come on, we’ll walk you to the gate,” Ishizu said as the group finished cleaning up, smiling and gesturing for the others to follow her.

Atem sighed, once again taking Yuugi’s hand as they walked towards the boarding area. He glanced at the others with a somewhat sad expression; In just a few minutes, Jounouchi, Honda, and Anzu would be on a plane to Japan, and he and Yuugi… Would be staying behind.

He knew they were only staying for a few days, but “a few days” felt like forever in his mind. For all the difficulties he’d been having adjusting to his new body, he’d enjoyed every minute of time spent with his friends; He’d felt more at peace during their sleepover, just hanging out and chatting and playing and…  _ Being  _ together, than he had in a long time, and certainly for far longer than he ever had at once. He was going to miss them perhaps a bit too much, he realized. Even with Yuugi there, the thought of having to deal with everything he was going through, without his friends being there to support him… It scared him a little.

It was going to be lonely.

That was what scared him the most, he realized. Loneliness. Sure, maybe he wouldn’t be completely alone- He had Yuugi, and Grandpa, and he was sure Bakura and the Ishtar siblings would be around from time to time- But it wasn’t… It wouldn’t be…

...He’d been alone for so long, far, far too long, and he knew it had done things to his mind- Things he wasn’t sure it was possible to undo. He so desperately wanted,  _ needed  _ the kind of atmosphere he’d experienced last night, needed to be surrounded by people who cared about him as if he were a real human with a family and not- ...He couldn’t go back to- And he needed them, he  _ needed  _ them and they were  _ leaving him- _

“Hey, are you ok?” Yuugi asked, glancing worriedly at Atem; Atem’s walking pace had slowed, his face was a bit pale, and Yuugi could feel him shaking.

Atem jumped slightly, startled by the sudden return to reality. He took a deep breath, bit his lip, and nodded. 

“Y-Yeah. Just… It’s just the headache, that’s all,” he lied. (He couldn’t answer honestly, even if he wanted to; It wasn’t like saying he didn’t want his friends to leave could magically materialize more money in Jounouchi’s bank account, or a longer weekend for Anzu to not have to miss school. There was no point in making his friends feel guilty over something that wasn’t their choice to begin with.)

Yuugi wasn’t convinced. Atem could see it in his eyes. But Yuugi, too, knew how to read his Other Self like an open book, and he could see that there was a reason why Atem wasn’t being honest; If Atem couldn’t answer now, he wasn’t going to push it, no matter how worried he may have been.

“Everyone’s got something going on today, huh,” Yuugi sighed, though he was careful to keep any hint of bitterness or accusation out of his voice.

Atem frowned, lowering his gaze sadly. 

Whether he was speaking to himself, or Yuugi, or no one at all, Atem wasn’t sure. But something compelled him to whisper under his breath- In his native Egyptian, so his friends wouldn’t overhear:

“I just… Really don’t want them to go.”

Yuugi said nothing, but squeezed Atem’s hand a bit tighter.

And so, like it or not, the moment finally came. The two groups took their time saying their goodbyes, their various “I’ll miss you”s and “safe trip home”s and “it was good seeing you”s, and then the attention turned towards Atem.

For a moment, his friends simply stared at him, as he stared back, no one quite sure what to say. It was Honda who finally broke the silence.

“Congratulations on your... undeath,” he said, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

Atem managed to at least crack a smile at this. “Thank you.”

“Hold on, _ undeath?” _ Jounouchi repeated, with an incredulous look on his face. “Is Atem a zombie?!”

Atem blinked, surprised by this question. “I… I don’t know, am I?” he wondered, staring down at his hands as if uncertain.

“I don’t think he counts as undead,” Anzu decided. “Undead are usually supposed to be all, you know, rotten and mindless and evil. Atem just seems like a normal person,” she pointed out.

“Interesting definition of ‘normal’, but thanks, I guess,” Atem muttered.

“Ok, but no matter how you look at it, he’s a dead person who came back to life,” Honda insisted. “Doesn’t that, by definition, make him undead?”

Yuugi tilted his head thoughtfully. “Hmm… I’m not sure what category he’d fall under, to be honest. He’s definitely not a zombie or a lich… I don’t think he counts as resurrected, either, since I think normally that would require the original body to-”

Grandpa suddenly cleared his throat. “I hate to interrupt this, ah… Important conversation, kids, but you’ve got a plane to catch,” he reminded them.

It was hard to miss the disappointed frowns that went around the group as they reluctantly went quiet. Atem felt his heart sink; A part of him had been hoping that maybe the moment of truth would never actually come, but it couldn’t be put off forever.

“...Group hug?” Jounouchi suggested.

Atem opened his mouth to reply, and within a moment, he suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides. At first the hug felt uncomfortably crowded, crushing him a bit- But at the same time, it felt… Nice. The warmth and the pressure was comforting, and the people involved even more so.

“Hey, Bakura! What are you standing around for? Get in!” Jounouchi exclaimed, holding out one arm to make room in the circle for Bakura.

Bakura hesitated slightly, glancing around with wide eyes. “Oh… um… Right. Sorry.”

“We wouldn’t want to leave you out,” Yuugi said reassuringly, as he put an arm around Bakura.

The group remained like that for several seconds, holding each other tight for as long as time would allow, squished and awkward and clumsy but  _ together.  _ Atem sighed, smiling contentedly for the first time that day.

...And then, just as soon as it had begun, it was over. The hug broke apart as the adults urged them not to miss their plane, and Atem could hardly pull himself away, one hand held out slightly as if to reach for his friends to come back.

His smile faded quickly.

“Bye, guys! Have fun in Egypt! Good luck, Atem!” Anzu shouted, waving as they got in line.

“Don’t get caught up in any more weird magic stuff!” Honda added.

“Bye, see you in a few days! Bakura, don’t forget about the bridge!”

Yuugi and Atem waved back, watching their friends walk.

“Safe travels,” Yuugi called, a slightly bittersweet smile on his face.

They watched, still waving, until Anzu, Jounouchi, and Honda had completely disappeared from view, up the stairs and into the plane. Yuugi sighed as he put his hand down, but tried to remain cheerful- As he usually did.

“Well… Guess it’s time to go back to the hotel,” he said, more for the sake of talking than anything. “At least it’ll be quieter there.”

“Quiet sounds nice,” Atem agreed. (His headache did seem to have gone down a bit, but he was still, if he was being honest, kind of miserable.)

He stayed close to Yuugi as they followed the adults (along with Bakura and Marik) back to the airport’s entrance- Back towards the worst of the crowd, loud and busy and-

Another loud burst of static came through the loudspeaker as the next announcement was shouted out. Atem flinched, pressing his free hand over his ear, shoulders tense and eyes shut.

“God, I can’t wait to get out of here,” he whimpered.

Walking through the crowd was like walking through a dozen different metal concerts all at once, or at least it felt that way. Atem practically held his breath as they pushed their way towards the door, pressing himself close to Yuugi and keeping his eyes straight ahead and silently chanting to himself that it was almost over, just a little further, just a little…

Of course, outside initially wasn’t all that better, with the sun shining in Atem’s eyes and car horns blaring in his ears. Still, one way or another they eventually made it to the car; Atem let out a breath of relief, and leaned against it, closing his eyes and putting a hand against his aching forehead.

“Pha- Atem, are you alright?” Ishizu asked worriedly, watching with a frown, and a look in her eyes as if she was trying to figure out what she was supposed to do in this situation.

Atem gave a small nod. “Mm. I’ll be better once we get to the hotel… Probably,” he muttered in response. “I dunno, it’s just… It was really loud in there, and I don’t think I slept enough… I thought my headache had gotten a bit better, but…” he trailed off, sighing disappointedly.

“Maybe you should try taking a nap when we get to the hotel,” Yuugi suggested.

Atem nodded once again. “Yeah.”

“I’d like to sleep for a few hours,” Bakura commented, in a quiet mumble. “Or maybe a few days. Or forever.”

“Mm.”

Yuugi gave an awkward, half-hearted laugh, yet found himself frowning in concern at both Bakura and Atem as he put his bag in the back of the car.

Resisting the urge to sigh again, Yuugi closed the trunk hatch and climbed into the car, with Atem following suit. With the rest of the group gone, they were now free to sit in the middle row of seats; Grandpa, of course, sat in the front passenger seat, and Ishizu began to open the driver’s door, only to suddenly pause.

“Excuse me, Ishizu,” Rishid said, just as she started to open the door. “Is it alright if I drive the SUV this time? I, ah… The… The other car isn’t very comfortable, you see. Because I’m so tall.” He coughed awkwardly.

Ishizu paused for a moment, frowning in confusion, but soon nodded. “Of course. I’ll see you all back at the hotel, then.”

Rishid climbed into the driver’s seat, sighing in relief as he shut the door. “Sorry about that. Ishizu… Has a number of talents, but driving is not one of them, and she refuses to take any criticism on it,” he admitted with a frown. “I can’t say driving in Cairo is exactly pleasant in any situation, but I’ll try to make it as stress-free as possible.”

“I appreciate that,” Grandpa replied a little bit tersely, with a slow nod. “Thank you.”

Atem sighed as Rishid started the car, bracing himself for more noise and discomfort. 

The ride to the hotel, Atem thought, was simultaneously too noisy and far too quiet. 

* * *

The drive from the airport to the hotel, much to Atem’s grief, wound up taking nearly two hours. Had he been feeling more energetic, he would have had plenty to complain about- The noise, the long car ride, the cigarette smoke in the hotel lobby, his headache- But as it was, it was all he could do to simply try not to pass out in the middle of the lobby. He leaned against Yuugi as they waited for the adults to finish talking to the hotel staff; He followed the others into the elevator and down the hall, gave a half-hearted goodbye wave to Bakura, and stumbled into the hotel room with half-asleep legs. 

He didn’t even bother looking around- His brain identified a bed, and that was all he really cared about, as he kicked off his sandals and crawled into it. He rolled onto his back and crossed his arms over his face, covering his eyes with one elbow, and gave a quiet grunt of pain.

“Nap time?” Yuugi guessed, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Atem didn’t bother opening his eyes. “Mm.”

“I’ll close the curtains so the light doesn’t bother you,” Grandpa said softly.

Atem sighed, the tension in his face relaxing slightly as the harsh sunlight softened. To his surprise, he felt the mattress suddenly shift underneath him, as if a weight had been placed on it; He soon recognized Yuugi, shuffling close to Atem’s side. (Whether or not it was normal to recognize someone by touch alone, he didn’t know. He was too tired to think about it.)

Atem rolled over to face Yuugi, hesitantly opening one eye. 

“Are you going to sleep too?” he wondered.

Yuugi shook his head. “Nah. I just like to cuddle,” he answered, laughing slightly. “It’s nice.”

A hint of a tired smile played at the corners of Atem’s lips. “Yeah, it is.”

He put an arm around Yuugi, once again giving a deep sigh as he closed his eyes. Being by Yuugi’s side… It felt nice, unlike many (most, if he was being honest) things Atem had experienced so far. Somehow, it just felt...  _ right.  _ Calm, peaceful, secure. Everything he’d gone through, all the pain he was experiencing, it all seemed to almost fade into the background, the gentle warmth of Yuugi’s presence overpowering the darkness.

Yuugi had always had that sort of an effect on him, he thought. Even at times when he’d been overwhelmed with anger or fear, Yuugi seemed profoundly good at calming him down, even by doing little more than just being there. Yuugi made him feel safe; Throughout everything he’d gone through- Every moment of wondering who and what he was and where came from, if he was a well-meaning kid or a horrible, evil spirit who could never change, why he existed or if he even existed at all- He’d never once doubted that he belonged with Yuugi.

Yuugi felt like home.

Atem pressed himself closer to Yuugi, resting his chin against the top of Yuugi’s head. Soon after, he found himself drifting gently into a much-needed sleep.

* * *

Atem awoke to the smell of food- Though what kind, he couldn’t quite tell. He yawned, stretching slightly with a meaningless sleepy mumble, slowly blinking his eyes open.

“Good morning- I mean, evening,” Yuugi greeted him.

“Mmmh… Wha… Wha’ time izzit..?” Atem muttered, his voice slurred with sleep. He pushed himself up on one arm, searching the room for Yuugi with hazy, watery eyes.

“It’s a little after 7:00,” Yuugi answered, smiling at Atem from his seat at a small table. “You slept for about two and a half hours. Are you feeling any better?”

Atem paused to think about it, giving a wide yawn. “Yeah.”

Yuugi couldn’t help but laugh; Atem looked so innocent and silly, rubbing at his eyes like a sleepy toddler as he stumbled towards the table, his hair sticking up in every direction. It was certainly a far cry from the fiery, solemn warrior-king Yuugi had seen during Millennium World.

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Yuugi laughed, though he meant it sincerely. “Are you hungry at all?”

Atem paused, seemingly stumped by this question. He stood between the table and the other bed, staring at Yuugi’s dinner with a puzzled expression, as if trying to decide if he was hungry or not.

“...Grandpa got this for you,” Yuugi told him, gesturing towards a box of cereal Atem hadn’t noticed before. “He forgot to get a bowl and spoon, though, so you’ll have to just eat it out of the box… It’s similar to the cereal you had at the airport, but it has nuts and dried fruit in it, so it’s a little more nutritious,” he explained. “I hope you like it.”

“Dried fruits?” Atem repeated, perking up slightly at this despite his drowsiness.

Yuugi nodded. “Yeah, I think raisins? I’m not sure. There’s milk in the fridge if you want it, too.”

Atem sat down in the chair across from Yuugi, reaching for the box and quickly slipping a fingernail under the sealed top flap. He pulled the box open, and- after a bit of wrestling with the bag to open it- grabbed a handful of cereal, shoving it directly into his mouth from his hand.

Yuugi watched Atem chew, tilting his head curiously as he ate his own dinner- A simple chicken wrap. “How is it?”

“Good,” Atem replied, nodding as he swallowed. “I like raisins, I think.”

“Oh yeah?” Yuugi raised an eyebrow, giving Atem an amused, questioning look.

“Mhmm. I mean, I remember liking them- You know, back then… I-I mean I dunno, maybe it doesn’t really make a difference, I don’t know…” he trailed off, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed.

“No, I think that’s a good start,” Yuugi decided with a thoughtful nod. “If you can remember what kind of food you used to like, maybe we can try to find some of the same stuff. Or similar things, anyway.”

Atem’s only response was a forlorn hum. He ate a few more handfuls of cereal, gradually looking more awake, yet more tense.

“...Does it… Bother you?” He asked quietly after a moment.

Yuugi frowned in confusion. “Does what bother me?”

Atem sighed. “Me. The way I talk about… Our past. I know it’s not like it was really me, but- I don’t know. I forget.” He looked away in shame. “I’m sorry… I promise I’m not trying to be selfish on purpose, I-”

“It doesn’t bother me at all,” Yuugi interrupted, shaking his head. “You’re not being selfish. It’s  _ your  _ past, after all,” he pointed out. “Just because we found out that we both used to be one person doesn’t make all your memories suddenly not yours anymore- It just means we get to share now. It was my life, and it was yours too. Everything you remember going through back then, that _ was _ you,” he insisted.

“I… I guess that’s true,” Atem admitted. “I just… I don’t know. I don’t want to make it seem like…” He paused, sighing. “I don’t really know how to put this into words… I just don’t want to, um, seem like I’m ignoring you or anything?”

Yuugi shook his head. “I don’t feel that way at all. Besides, I know you’re the one who got all the memories- It’s only to be expected that they would have a lot of effect on you. And you fought hard to get those memories back, so you shouldn’t feel bad for acknowledging them.”

“Are you sure?”

Yuugi paused. He watched Atem, frowning worriedly; He could tell there was something else to this, something Atem wasn’t telling him.

“Alright, spill. What’s really bothering you?” Yuugi asked. “And don’t say it’s nothing, because I know you better than that,” he added, seeing Atem’s surprised face.

Atem bit his lip, glancing away for a moment before answering. “It’s just…” He sighed again. “I spent so long without any sort of sense of identity of my own, or sense of self… I always just felt like a fake version of you. I felt so… dirty. I thought that once I got my memories back, that feeling would go away, but I…” He took a deep breath, feeling the beginnings of tears well up in his eyes, and a lump in his throat. “It didn’t. Now I just feel like a fake  _ me. _ Because it never really was me, was it? All I have that’s really me is just… Three thousand years of isolation, and then a year of trying to copy other people. I don’t have an identity or a history or anything and I- I-I really thought I did, I thought it would be as- As easy as just getting all the god cards and-” 

“Hey, it’s ok,” Yuugi said softly, standing up and walking around to the other side of the table. He put an arm around Atem, waiting for him to finish his confession.

“It was… It was never really the memories I cared about anyway,” Atem admitted. “I just wanted to- to be someone. I wanted to have a past, like you and our friends. I wanted to be  _ me.  _ But now I know that- th-there really is no me after all, even though I remember all these scary things- And I just… I’m so  _ tired  _ of this,” he finished, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand and leaning against Yuugi’s shoulder.

“But it  _ is _ you, though,” Yuugi insisted. “Us sharing a past doesn’t somehow negate it. They’re still your memories. You’re not some fake Atem- You  _ are _ Atem, just… you know… Minus a few pieces,” he laughed. “And I’m perfectly happy to let you keep all our memories.”

Atem said nothing at first. Yuugi frowned; After a moment, he let go of Atem, and pulled his chair over to sit next to him instead.

“Think of it this way. If you take a cake and cut it in half, is it suddenly not the same cake anymore?” Yuugi asked.

“I… I guess not,” Atem admitted, frowning slightly. “It would still be the same cake.”

“Exactly,” Yuugi said with a nod. “So stop beating yourself up thinking that you’re not you, or not us, because you are who we were- Or, uh, you... Were who we are..?” He paused, tilting his head and frowning in confusion, a puzzled expression on his face. “...Well, anyway, you get what I mean, right?”

Atem gave a slight laugh, though his expression was still serious. “Yeah, I understand... I guess you have a point there.” He shrugged.

Despite Atem’s answer, Yuugi… Couldn’t find it in himself to smile. He could tell Atem wasn’t fully convinced, and that worried him. He didn’t want to seem pushy, but he didn’t want to just let the issue go unresolved, either; He knew Atem had a tendency to put his feelings aside for the sake of others unless convinced otherwise, and with everything Atem had to deal with already… Better to nip it in the bud while he still had the chance. The less things Atem had to stress about, the better.

“Hey, listen… I don’t want you bottling up your feelings just because you don’t think it’s fair of you to have them. That’s not healthy at all,” he told Atem seriously. “The things that happened to us- The things that happened to  _ you-  _ Were real, and I’m sure you’ve got a lot to think about. You’re allowed to acknowledge your feelings.”

Atem nodded. “Yeah, I see your point. Sorry, I guess I’m just kinda… I dunno…”

“Overthinking things because you’re stressed?” Yuugi supplied helpfully.

“...Yes. That.”

Yuugi gave Atem a sympathetic smile. “I know the feeling. Honestly, I think… I think you just need some time to adjust, that’s all.”

“Probably,” Atem sighed.

“You’re not going to get over everything right away, and that’s ok,” Yuugi reminded him gently. “Just let yourself take the time to process things. And remember, you can’t be an impostor version of yourself.”

“Right… Thanks,” Atem said, nodding slowly; This time, Yuugi knew, he’d gotten through to him. 

Yuugi smiled in relief. He took another bite of his sandwich, satisfied that the crisis had been averted. Meanwhile, Atem stood up, grabbing a plastic cup and opening the small hotel fridge to pour himself a glass of milk.

“...Hey, come to think of it… Where’s Grandpa?” he wondered.

“He’s out with one of his archaeologist friends,” Yuugi explained. “He said he’ll probably be out late, so I think they’re going to a bar or something.”

Atem nodded. “Hmm. So I guess it’s just the two of us, then,” he said as he closed the fridge.

“Yup.”

Atem sat back down next to Yuugi, and took a sip of his milk. For a few minutes, the two of them sat in silence, with little to say as they ate their respective dinners.

Atem frowned after a moment, glancing around the room. “What’s that noise?” he asked.

“Hmm? What noise?”

“That noise,” Atem repeated, as if this explained anything. “It’s like, kind of a high-pitched buzzing sound. Listen.”

Yuugi did so, frowning in concentration as he cocked his head to one side, listening for whatever Atem was describing.

“Oh, I… Think I know what you mean… Coming from the wall, right?” he asked, standing up and turning his head from side to side to try to locate the noise.

Atem paused, and leaned closer to the wall, then nodded. “Yeah, I think so. What the hell _ is  _ that?”

“Oh, that’s just the electricity,” Yuugi confirmed, relaxing as he sat back down. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Is it normal to be able to hear electricity?” Atem wondered.

“I dunno,” Yuugi replied honestly. “My mom thinks I’m crazy, but Jounouchi-kun said once that he can hear it too, so…” He shrugged.

Atem gave a thoughtful hum, but said nothing as he reached for another handful of cereal.

“...It’s too quiet in here,” he muttered.

Yuugi sighed. “Yeah… I miss our friends already,” he admitted.

“Me too.”

Friends…

...Atem wasn’t quite sure why, but something about the conversation brought about an odd feeling that he couldn’t place- Something almost a bit like deja vu, a nagging sense at the back of his mind that there was something important he should have been thinking about, but what it was, he didn’t know. He found his attention inexplicably drawn towards the bag on the floor, suddenly feeling like he needed to look at his deck, though he wasn’t sure why.

Unless… Maybe…

“Hmm… Friends, huh?” he said under his breath, almost as if he was simply thinking out loud. He closed up the box of cereal and stood up.

Yuugi watched curiously as Atem opened the overstuffed sports bag, taking out several of the items on top (his circlet, a necklace, two arm cuffs, a pair of pajamas) and pushing several others to the side, as he searched through the bag. He gave a soft grunt of effort as he pulled, briefly struggling against the heavy piles of cards- And then almost hit himself in the face as he finally managed to free the duel disk from the bottom of the bag.

“What are you doing?” Yuugi wondered, standing up to look as Atem put the duel disk on the bed and turned it on. 

“I suspect,” Atem began, drawing two cards from the top of his deck, “That we may have some guests.”

Yuugi watched as Atem placed the two cards in the duel disk, and-

“Mana! Mahaad!” Atem exclaimed, a wide grin spreading across his face as the duel disk’s Solid Vision flickered to life. “I knew it had to be you two.”

“Atem!” The Dark Magician Girl (No,  _ Mana, _ Yuugi reminded himself) practically shrieked in excitement, throwing herself towards Atem, startling him- And then frowned in disappointment as she simply fell right through him. “Aww, holograms, why…”

“Hello, Pharaoh,” Dark Magician- Mahaad- said politely, bowing towards both Atem and Yuugi in turn with a warm, gentle smile. “It’s good to see you both.”

“Hi,” Yuugi replied, waving.

(It was strange, he thought; Never before had he summoned any of his monsters outside of battle, let alone had a conversation with them, and yet… He felt far less awkward than he would have expected to. Even despite the fact that he had never really spoken to Atem’s old friends before, nor spoken a word in Egyptian, it felt surprisingly natural.)

“Woah, so you two really are separate now, huh?” Mana gasped, looking over Yuugi and Atem in awe. “Freaky…”

Yuugi laughed. “Haha, yeah, it’s… It’s a little bit of a weird change,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“How are you two?” Mahaad asked.

“I’m good,” Yuugi answered cheerfully.

Atem shrugged. “I’ve been better… But I mean, I’ve also been dead, so. I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective,” he said with a slight laugh.

“How are you guys?” Yuugi asked.

“I’m great!” Mana cheered.

“I’m well, thank you,” Mahaad replied with a nod, and then frowned slightly. “Are you sure you two are alright?”

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Why, do we not seem alright?” he asked worriedly.

Mahaad shook his head. “No, it’s not so much that… I’ve just never heard of one soul being split into two bodies before. I’m… A little concerned as to what kind of effects this might have on your health.” He “sat” down on the bed, watching Atem and Yuugi closely, as if searching them for any signs of danger.

“I’ll admit I’ve been having some trouble adjusting,” Atem sighed. “Being alive is so much more overwhelming than I expected… It’s a lot to get used to. But Yuugi thinks I’m alright physically,” he added.

Yuugi nodded. “Uh-huh. I mean… He got kicked out of the afterlife for only having half a soul, right?” he pointed out. “It would seem kinda pointless if he were to just up and die right away. I don’t think… Anubis or whoever would do something that counterproductive, right..?”

“It’s not like the gods don’t ever make stupid decisions,” Mahaad sighed.

“Master! Stop saying such scary things!” Mana wailed. “Atem and Yuugi are going to be fine! Right? Right?! L-Let’s talk about something more fun,” she abruptly changed the subject. “What’s modern Egypt like? Didja see anything cool?”

“It’s noisy,” Atem said with a frown of distaste. “And people drive like maniacs.”

“We did see the Pyramids yesterday,” Yuugi recalled. “The Giza ones, I mean.”

“Oh yeah? How was that?”

“They’re a lot farther away from the Nile than they used to be,” Atem answered. “And there’s a Pizza Hut now. Also, the outer casing on Khufu’s pyramid is mostly gone.”

Yuugi nodded. “Yup. Ishizu-san said they were used to build Cairo in the 14th century.”

“Personally, I think they should have left one side intact, so you can climb up one side and slide down the other,” Atem decided, shrugging. “And then, you know, land on the temple floor and shatter all the bones in your lower body and then die. But hey, life is about the journey, not the destination.”

(Mahaad put a hand over his face in disbelief.)

“Orrrr you could just go to a theme park like a normal person,” Yuugi pointed out.

“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”

Mahaad sighed. “You are the reason I get stress headaches,” he muttered under his breath.

“Aww, come on. I was only joking,” Atem gave in, frowning apologetically.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. “Were you, though?”

Atem stuck his tongue out at Yuugi, but otherwise said nothing. Instead, he sat down in one of the chairs. 

“Anyway… We’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I’d love to hear about what you two have been up to these past three thousand years.”

“In my case, I’ve spent most of it studying,” Mahaad answered. “Improving my magic, trying to learn as much as I can… I’ve also taken up collecting knives as a side hobby. Last I counted, I have one thousand, three hundred and twenty-seven.” He gave a small smile, almost hinting at mischief on his normally calm, stoic face.

“That… Explains a lot,” Atem admitted, glancing towards his deck, recalling certain spell cards.

“As for me,” Mana began, “Eh… Lived, died, did the whole afterlife thing, honestly it was kind of boring,” she said, with a dismissive shrug. “Most people get reincarnated after a while, but… I missed you, and I missed master. So I said I wanted to go where you two were. And Osiris was like, ‘Well ok, as long as you’re cool with being a weirdly oversexualized trading card forever’, and I was like, ‘I dunno what that means, but sure!’. And so here I am.” She finished her story with a resolute nod.

Yuugi frowned. “Does the outfit bother you?” he asked, glancing at Dark Magician Girl’s… less than modest attire.

“Oh, no, the outfit’s great! It’s super cute!” Mana insisted, grinning and stretching out her arms and legs in front of her to admire her accessories. “What bothers me is… well… You know. The… The fanboys.” She shuddered in distaste.

“I’ll kill them,” Atem whispered under his breath.

“Normally I’d try to discourage you from committing murder, but… In this case, I’ll help you hide the bodies,” Mahaad muttered.

Mana laughed. “It’s sweet that you guys would kill for me, but don’t worry. I can do it myself.”

“Ok, am I the  _ only _ one here with morals?!” Yuugi blurted out, a look of disbelief on his face.

Atem gave an offended snort. “I have morals,” he insisted. “I just consider ‘creepy weird perverts shouldn’t be protected from murder’ to be a part of those morals. Is that not reasonable?”

Yuugi smacked a hand against his forehead. “Look, I’m not about to get into a debate with you about why you should be allowed to commit murder,” he sighed.

“Hey, you started it, not me.”

“Anyway, moving on,” Mana interrupted, “What are you two going to… like…  _ Do?”  _ she wondered, gesturing vaguely to Yuugi and Atem’s general existence.

Atem and Yuugi shared nervous glances.

“We’re still kind of figuring that out,” Yuugi admitted. “I-I mean obviously the plan is to just, you know, kind of try to live life like usual, with the Oth- with Atem being part of our family… Grandpa said he’s going to talk to my parents about it,” he explained, though he looked uncertain. 

“Supposedly Kaiba’s getting me a forged birth certificate and stuff,” Atem added. “Although he seemed pretty grumpy about it.”

“Well, he owes you, so tough,” Mana insisted, crossing her arms.

“That’s what we said. Really, though, I don’t think he was lying about it or anything,” Atem assured her. “He’s just… hmm.”

“Hmm?” Mana repeated, tilting her head questioningly.

Atem sighed. “He… He seems to remember his own past, too,” he explained quietly. “But he doesn’t seem too happy about it.”

“Oh.” Mana went quiet, a slightly solemn expression on her face. “...Well, hey… um… Next time you see him, tell him the next Duel Disk upgrade should have more sound effects,” she decided after a moment. “I want my own theme music!”

“What would your theme music sound like, exactly?” Mahaad wondered, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

“Hmm… I think something like the kind of music Anzu listens to,” Mana replied with a thoughtful nod. “And for you, master, something with a guitar, and cool dramatic strings because you’re tough!”

Mahaad laughed. “I see.”

“Alright, we’ll tell him,” Atem replied, with a slight amused snort. “Assuming he’s not too pissed off, anyway.”

“On a more serious note… What are you going to do with the Millennium Items?” Mahaad asked, his expression growing more stern.

“Oh my god, we forgot about the Millennium Items!” Atem and Yuugi suddenly blurted out, in perfect sync.

Mahaad and Mana both blinked, stunned by this sudden outburst.

“...Well then,” Mahaad said simply.

“Yep, they’re definitely the same person, alright,” Mana muttered.

“What do you mean, you ‘forgot about them’? Where are they?” Mahaad demanded, sitting up straighter, a wide-eyed look of concern and fear on his face.

“W-Well, you see, um… Atem, kinda… Passed out a couple minutes after he got his body,” Yuugi explained nervously. “So we kinda left the temple in a rush. Everyone was just worried about making sure he was ok. So aside from this-” he lifted up the Puzzle that hung around his neck- “All of the Millennium Items are still back in the temple, I guess.”

Mahaad let out a sigh of relief, though he still seemed a bit tense. “Well, as long as they’re in the Temple of the Underworld, they should be relatively safe… For now.”

“I mean, Bakura and Zorc are both gone, so it shouldn’t be much of an issue… Right?” Atem hoped.

Mahaad shook his head. “Zorc is not the sole source of evil in this world, nor is Bakura the only villain. Just because they were the last ones to want to kill you, specifically, doesn’t mean no one else could use the Millennium Items for evil. As long as there are people in this world who want power, the Items will always be a danger to humanity,” he said solemnly.

A tense silence filled the room.

“I know… You’re right,” Atem sighed. “What… What do you think we should do with them?”

“Honestly? I don’t know,” Mahaad confessed. “I’m not sure if there’s a way to destroy them, so… I know the whole ‘locking the super dangerous magical artifact up and hoping nobody manages to steal it’ thing never works out well in stories, but I can’t really think of much of a better-”

Mahaad paused, frowning and glancing down at himself as his whole body suddenly seemed to flicker like a candle.

“Ah… The battery’s dying,” he realized, nodding towards the duel disk.

“Aren’t those things supposed to be solar powered?” Mana pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the duel disk as she, too, flickered strangely.

Yuugi frowned worriedly. “Well, we did just duel for like, two hours in an underground room…”

“With all three god cards…”

“And with both players running off of one duel disk.”

“And we… Never opened the curtains, come to think of it,” Atem realized, glancing towards the window.

“Yeah, that would do it,” Mahaad sighed. “We should probably go, then.”

Neither Atem nor Mana could mask the disappointment on their faces. They stared at each other for a moment, looking uncertain, as if not sure what they were supposed to do; Their instincts said “goodbye hug”, but reality said otherwise.

“...See you around, then,” Mana said after a moment.

Atem nodded. “Right. I’m sure we’ll see each other again soon,” he said with a smile. “It was good seeing you both.”

Mana grinned. “Yeah, you too!”

“I’m glad to see you’re doing alright,” Mahaad added, smiling as well, even as his body continued to waver in and out of existence. “Although, that being said… I’m going to try to do some research into your… Situation,” he said, frowning slightly. “I’d just like to make sure there aren’t going to be any unexpected problems. I’ll let you know what I find, but in the meantime, I’d recommend not spending too much time apart- And keep the Millennium Puzzle with you, as well,” he suggested. “We don’t know if the Puzzle plays a part in this, or what kind of effect distance might have on you two, so I think it’s best to try to play it safe for now.”

“Good point. We’ll do that,” Atem agreed with a nod. “Thank you, Mahaad.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’d want to be away from Atem for very long anyway,” Yuugi admitted, with a slight nervous laugh. “But you’re right, better safe than sorry.”

Mahaad nodded, satisfied with this answer, and stood up.

“Hey, um… I’m really glad we got to talk,” Mana said quietly. “Master and I really missed you all these years.”

Atem sighed, a bittersweet smile on his face. “I-  _ We _ missed you too,” he replied. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting for so long.”

Mana started to say something, but frowned as she suddenly vanished almost entirely. Instead, she shook her head, and stood up, shooting Atem a reassuring thumbs-up.

“Well then, goodnight,” Mahaad said, bowing in farewell. “It was nice seeing you.”

“Bye, Atem, bye Yugi!” Mana added, waving.

“Bye!” Yuugi and Atem replied in chorus, waving back as the two magicians vanished for good, with a flash of light and one last fond look.

The room suddenly felt dark and empty, with Atem and Yuugi as its sole occupants once more. Yet it was a comfortable sort of emptiness, eased by the warm feeling of time spent with friends. Yuugi smiled to himself as he switched the duel disk off, placing it carefully on the nightstand.

He pulled open the curtains, letting the last of the evening light into the room as dusk fell upon Cairo.

* * *

“Man, I don’t know how anyone could take these shows seriously,” Atem commented. “The way the camera keeps dramatically zooming in on their faces is so funny.”

“I still can’t tell if that guy is her brother or her husband,” Yuugi admitted.

The two of them lay on their stomachs on one of the beds, propped up on their elbows, eyes glued to whatever drama was playing on TV; Though neither of them spoke more than a few words of Arabic, and the show was clearly in the middle of a season, boredom had led them to become thoroughly invested in trying to figure out the plot- Or at least, ad-libbing one based on what they could glean from the acting.

“Oh shit, the tall dude’s back!” Atem gasped. “Her dad is gonna be soooo pissed.”

“Wait, so did he break up with her sister already?”

Atem frowned in confusion. _ “Is _ she her sister? I thought they were just-”

Before he could finish his sentence, Atem was interrupted by a sudden knock on the door. He glanced up briefly, but soon turned his attention back to the TV as Yuugi hopped off the bed to answer the knock.

Yuugi found himself still distracted by the TV as he calmly swung the door open- But to his surprise, the person on the other side was not his grandfather.

Yuugi blinked, looking up at the Bakura’s taller figure. Bakura looked… Honestly, more than a little worse for the wear; His posture was slouched and tense, his eyes red and baggy, his expression… Grim. He looked, by all accounts, like someone who hadn’t slept in days.

“Oh! Hey, Bakura-kun,” Yuugi said slightly hesitantly, frowning in concern at Bakura’s worrisome appearance. “What’s up?”

“Hi, Yuugi-kun,” Bakura muttered in response. “Um, sorry to bother you… Are you busy right now?”

Yuugi shook his head. “Not really, why? Did you need something?”

“Uh, sort of…” Bakura’s gaze briefly flickered towards the inside of the room. “There’s just… There’s, um, something I need to talk to you- To, to both of you about. Um, privately.”

Yuugi nodded, his expression growing serious. He stepped aside to let Bakura into the room, and then shut the door behind them.

Yuugi guessed Atem had overheard their conversation, given the way he now sat alert at the edge of the bed, eyes trained on Bakura expectantly; The TV had already been shut off. Yuugi pulled up a chair for Bakura, and then sat next to Atem, waiting patiently for Bakura to speak.

Bakura slowly sat down, and fidgeted in his chair nervously. He looked everywhere except at Yuugi and Atem, twisting the hem of his shirt, opening his mouth and then closing it again several times as he tried to figure out what to say, tried to work up the courage to speak.

Finally, he looked up.

“...Um. I… I- don’t really know how to say this, but...” He took a deep breath, and suddenly the words just fell right out of his mouth. “...I remember everything.”

Yuugi and Atem both gasped, as Bakura covered his face in his hands.

“Oh, Bakura-kun… I’m sorry,” Yuugi whispered.

“How… How long have you remembered?” Atem asked quietly. His throat suddenly felt dry.

“S-Since last night,” Bakura muttered from behind his hands. He shook his head, taking several deep, shaky breaths to try to calm himself before continuing, biting his lip and looking back up.

“It’s- I- Everything that’s, all of this- It’s all my fault,” he stammered, taking another breath and trying to steady himself. “A-And I… I want to say I’m sorry, but I know that no apology can… Make up for the things I’ve done, so… I w- I want you to, um, to know that I’m… Not like that anymore, but I- I understand if you don’t want to be friends with me anymore,” he finished, bowing his head low in apology. “I just… Thought you deserved to know. I’m sorry.”

Yuugi and Atem stared at Bakura with wide, horrified eyes. Atem felt like he couldn’t speak; He had so much he wanted to say, so much he knew he  _ shouldn’t  _ say, so many conflicting emotions- He felt slightly sick to his stomach as he whispered a shaky, dry “...You.”

“Atem-”

“They killed my entire village,” Bakura suddenly blurted out, unable to restrain himself. “I was a  _ child,  _ and I watched ev- everyone die, and I was just so angry and hurt, and I- I thought that everyone else should hurt too… I-I don’t know,” he stammered. “God, I’m a monster.”

“It’s not your fault,” Yuugi assured him. “That was the old Bakura, not you. You can’t blame yourself for your past life.”

Bakura shook his head. “No, it was me. Even- Even if I’m not that kind of person anymore, it… Wouldn’t be right of me to pretend I never did anything wrong. I- I need to take responsibility for my actions.”

Atem almost began to accuse Bakura- But something stopped him as he saw the pained look on Bakura’s face, tired and hurt and… Sincere. 

Yuugi was right, Atem realized. This was not the Bakura who had slaughtered civilians for fun, nor the Bakura who had deceived and manipulated Atem’s friends, treating them as disposable; This was the Bakura who had risked his life to save them, the Bakura who had been so excited to have real friends, the Bakura who loved tabletop games and always spoke politely and still wrote letters to his dead sister.

And yet…

“...None of that excuses the things that you did,” Atem began slowly.

“I know.”

“But… I am sorry about what happened to your village,” Atem finished. “I know it might sound hollow, given that it was my family who was responsible… But I mean it. What happened to Kul Elna was… Absolutely awful, and unforgivable, and I’m sorry you had to experience it. There’s no excuse for genocide, no matter who’s responsible for it.”

“Mm. Thanks… I guess,” Bakura muttered. “Still, I… I still shouldn’t have- Reacted the way I did.”

“You were so young…” Yuugi realized, in a quiet whisper. “Bakura-kun… Zorc manipulated you, didn’t he?”

Bakura went dead silent, his mouth hanging open in shock. After a few seconds, he gave a shaky nod.

And then came the tears.

Yuugi didn’t say a word as he stepped off the bed, pulling Bakura into a gentle hug. Bakura’s whole body shook as he sobbed into Yuugi’s shoulder, unable to hold back any longer.

“I-It’s not like I’m innocent,” he stammered after a moment. “I… I wanted to- to kill people. I did. But… God, I was like, five? And I- he- he _ encouraged  _ me to be angry all the time, made- m-made me think that, that revenge would make- Shit, can you imagine how differently I-I would’ve turned out if I  _ hadn’t _ been raised to be a m-murdererous slave to a chaos god? Because I can’t,” he said with a short, broken, hysterical laugh. “He used me, he- he made me his servant and, and you know what? You know fucking what? He was the real one behind- behind the massacre in the first place! A-And, and you know how I know?!” he shouted. “Because if he weren’t, then the stupid _ fucking _ tablet to summon his  _ stupid piece of shit ass  _ wouldn’t have been _ in the fucking village in the first place!” _

Yuugi backed away as Bakura escalated into full on hysterical shouting- And then, just as abruptly, Bakura stopped, breaking down into tears once more. He curled in on himself, pulling his feet up onto the chair, wrapping his arms around his legs and sobbing into his knees.

“...I never even though about it,” he whispered, just barely loud enough to hear. “The evidence was right in front of me the whole time and I… I was too obsessed to even notice. Stupid.”

Yuugi and Atem said nothing at first, sitting in stunned silence as they let Bakura’s words sink in. Yuugi wasn’t sure if he should try to comfort Bakura, or let him be; Distantly, he wondered if Bakura had even been talking to them, or if he’d been talking to himself. (He’d also never heard Bakura use such… language, which was a little bit of a shock, to say the least.)

“...Do you hate me?” Atem asked after a moment.

Bakura looked up hesitantly. “Huh?”

“Other Me!” Yuugi gasped. “Why would you ask something like that?!”

“Because I think it’s important to be honest,” Atem replied simply. “I don’t want this to turn into some…  _ Thing  _ where we’re just uncomfortable and passive-aggressive around each other all the time. If you hate me, I’d like to know.”

“I… I don’t know,” Bakura admitted. “Part of me thinks of you as my enemy, and part of me thinks of you as my friend… I  _ hope  _ I don’t hate you, you don’t deserve that,” he sighed. “What about you? Do you- Do you hate me?”

Atem shook his head. “No. I don’t forgive you for what happened- I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to- But I don’t hate you,” he assured him. “I can’t, knowing everything that I do now. We were… Both victims, really,” he finished quietly.

Bakura sighed once again. “I’m so tired,” he whispered.

“Me too,” Atem agreed with a solemn nod. “I don’t want to fight you anymore. This whole pointless war has gone on long enough. Everyone’s tired.”

“Mm.”

“And besides... Even if I can’t forgive the things your past self did… I like the new Bakura. The Bakura I know is a friend,” he said, smiling just a little bit, and holding out his hand. “If you’ll have me, I’d like to  _ stay  _ friends.”

“Me too,” Yuugi agreed with an enthusiastic nod.

Bakura stared at Atem’s outstretched hand with a blank, confused expression for a few minutes, as if not sure what it meant.

“Are you really going to just trust me like that..?” he asked.

Atem nodded. “I am.”

“Why?”

“Because like I said, I’m tired of fighting. I want to believe in a better future, so I’d rather believe you’ve changed than assume you won’t,” he answered. “And also…” Atem’s expression suddenly grew much darker. “Because I know that _ you _ know that if you ever do anything to betray that trust, anything to make me think you would hurt my friends, I am fully capable of killing you.”

“Atem!” Yuugi scolded him with a gasp.

Bakura shook his head. “No, Yuugi, I’m glad he said that. Please, never go back on that,” he asked Atem. “I don’t want to hurt anyone ever again. I’d rather die than be like  _ him  _ again.”

“It won’t come to that,” Yuugi said firmly. “I know it won’t. You’re not like that, Bakura-kun. I know you’re not,” he insisted. “You’re a good person, and you’re our friend.”

“Thank you,” Bakura muttered quietly.

“And, I think… I think maybe this is the happy ending,” Yuugi decided, slightly hesitantly. “A chance for us all to start over, to live normal lives- Or, you know, normal-ish, anyway. No more gods, no more conspiracies, no more trying to kill each other… A chance to just be friends,” he finished quietly.

This time, Atem was the one who began tearing up.

“I… I’d like that,” he realized, biting his lip.

Bakura nodded shakily. “Me too,” he agreed. “So, then… Friends?”

“Friends,” Atem confirmed, with a nod of conviction.

Yuugi could see the tension physically disappear from Bakura’s shoulders as a smile of relief spread across his face. And then, suddenly acting more like himself than Yuugi had seen him act all day- Bakura practically jumped out of his chair, and without warning, pulled both Yuugi and Atem into a tight hug.

“Thank you for believing in me,” he whispered. “I promise I’m going to try real hard to move past everything, and be the best friend I can possibly be.”

Atem hesitated for a moment- But nodded, a smile of determination creeping onto his face. “Me too. We’ll get better together,” he decided.

Yuugi smiled a warm, bright smile, feeling a sense of relief, love, and deep pride as he wrapped his arms around them both.

“You’re both already doing great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See, I told you it wouldn't all be depressing! Just, like, a lot of it.  
> Anyway, I saw this meme somewhere that was like:
> 
> _Zorc, seeing a traumatized toddler who just witnessed a massacre: It's free real estate_
> 
> And I think that's very accurate to the interpretation I'm using for this continuity. Not that TKB isn't still A Bitch And A Motherfucker, but yknow


	4. Card Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I think it's time to get back to work on Slightly Haunted. Not to say that I'm abandoning this fic, of course, but it'd be nice to write something more cheerful and less emotionally charged for once. ~~Admittedly I've been procrastinating on SH for MONTHS because the next chapter is another D &D chapter and I hate having to constantly refer to the PHB because I'm not too familiar with 2e...~~  
> I'd also like to give a big "fuck you" to this fic for making me crave hummus all the time.

Yuugi awoke to the sound of screaming.

He sat up abruptly, startled, and quickly spotted the source of the noise: Atem, thrashing around in bed and screaming at the top of his lungs. For a moment, Yuugi’s eyes widened in alarm, mind racing in horror as he tried to figure out what could be wrong, what could possibly be happening to his Other Self- Until he realized that Atem was still sleeping. He must have been simply having a nightmare, Yuugi realized.

He’d hardly ever heard anyone sound so terrified.

“Hey, wake up,” Yuugi said, trying to shake Atem awake as gently-yet-firmly as possible. “It’s just a nightmare, you’re ok, come on. Wake up, you’re having a nightmare.”

Atem awoke with a gasp and a frightened shout, eyes darting wildly around the room as he sat up. Yuugi put a hand on his shoulder, both to reassure him and to get his attention.

“Shhh, it’s ok,” Yuugi told him gently. “It was just a dream, you’re-”

“Turn the lights on!”

Yuugi frowned in confusion. “What?”

“Th-The lights,” Atem gasped. “Turn them on,  _ now!  _ Please!”

Yuugi blinked, trying not to panic as he realized he had no idea where the light switch was. “Oh- Ok, um, hang on, let me just-”

“Aibou, the lights!  _ Please!”  _ Atem shouted, growing increasingly hysterical as Yuugi frantically searched the wall for a light switch.

“I know, I’m trying, I can’t find the switch-”

“Turn on the lights! Now!  _ Turn on the lights!” _

“I’m trying!”

_ “Now!” _

The room suddenly became silent as Grandpa turned the bedside lamp on with a quiet click. Yuugi covered his eyes with one hand, momentarily stunned by the light, before slowly opening them again.

He glanced over with still-struggling eyes to find Atem sitting completely still and silent on the bed, blinking rapidly, barely even breathing; Just as Yuugi was starting to grow concerned by how long he’d been silent, Atem’s breaths began to grow faster and faster, his eyes wider and bubbling over with tears. Within seconds, Atem wasn’t really  _ breathing _ so much as sort of half-sobbing, half-screaming, pulling his knees close to his chest. He trembled like a leaf as he clung to his legs so tightly Yuugi worried he might leave scratch marks.

Yuugi sat down next to Atem, watching him in concern, as Grandpa made his way over to the bed as well.

“Hey, it’s ok,” Yuugi assured Atem, gently trying to pry his arms away from his knees. “It was just a dream, it’s over now. You’re ok. It wasn’t real.”

Atem immediately latched onto Yuugi instead, clinging to him with a vice grip. Yuugi returned the gesture, albeit more gently, rubbing Atem’s back in slow, comforting circles.

“I don’t want to go back,” Atem whimpered as he leaned against Yuugi, still shaking and gasping in fear, even as Yuugi held him and Grandpa gently patted his head.

“Back to what?” Yuugi asked.

“Th-The Puzzle,” Atem choked out. “I don’t want to go back! I can’t- I-I don’t want to go back, I- I-”

“And you’re not going to,” Yuugi promised. “Not ever. It’s over now. You were only dreaming, the Puzzle can’t hurt you anymore,” he reminded him.

“It’s alright now,” Grandpa echoed. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You just had a nightmare, that’s all. It’s alright.”

Atem gave another choked sob. “I-I know it was ju-just a dream but… I… I dreamed that, that m-m-mom and dad found out ‘bout all the bad things I did and-” He whimpered and stopped mid-sentence, too overwhelmed to continue; He howled into Yuugi’s shoulder, soaking his shirt with tears.

“Shhh,” Yuugi whispered, holding Atem a little tighter and rocking him slightly, reaching up to stroke the back of his head. “What happened?”

“They said-” Atem paused to sniffle- “Th-They said they hated me and- A-And then they put, they, they put me back in the Puzzle!” he finished, with another anguished sob.

Yuugi bit his lip, feeling… Almost physically hurt at this. “Oh, Other Me… I’m sorry,” he whispered. “That sounds like an awful dream. I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

“Just remember that it was only a dream,” Grandpa assured him gently. “You know they’d never do something like that in real life.”

Yuugi nodded. “Grandpa’s right. And besides, I don’t think it would even be possible for them to do that,” he pointed out.

Atem’s only response was a whimper and a shudder.

Yuugi sighed. For lack of a better solution, he continued trying to calm Atem, still holding him and rubbing his back. It seemed that the warmth and repetitive motion was probably going to put Yuugi himself to sleep before Atem, but he nonetheless did his best to stay awake; He couldn’t go to sleep in good conscience until he knew Atem was alright.

After a moment, Grandpa stood up, giving Atem one last tender pat on the head before walking towards the fridge. Yuugi watched Grandpa pour a small plastic cup of milk, and then return to the bed, gently tapping Atem on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Here. Drink this,” he told him quietly.

Atem sniffled, and took the cup with shaky hands. He slowly downed its contents, and then handed it back to Grandpa.

“Thank you,” he muttered, voice hoarse from crying.

Grandpa smiled softly as he threw the cup away, and gave Atem another pat. “Better now, then?”

“I-I dunno… I’m still scared,” Atem admitted, looking away.

“Don’t worry. Everything’s ok now,” Yuugi assured him. “You’re safe. I promise I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again, no matter what. So… You don’t have to be scared anymore, alright?”

Atem paused; Something about Yuugi’s words struck him oddly. On one hand, he did genuinely feel a bit reassured, but on the other hand… Wasn’t  _ he _ supposed to be the strong one? Wasn’t it his job, the purpose of his existence, to keep Yuugi safe and happy? Wasn’t he supposed to be the protector?

When had it become the other way around?

“Atem?” Yuugi prompted, slightly concerned by his silence. “Are you ok? Still listening?”

“Y-Yeah… Yeah, I-” Atem sniffled, took a deep breath, and sat up a bit. “I-I think I’m ok now. Mostly. Sorry for bothering you.”

Yuugi yawned, but still made his best effort to smile reassuringly. “It’s ok, don’t worry about it. Ready to go back to sleep?”

Atem gave a small nod.

Yuugi lay down on the bed, with Atem following suit. Just as he had before, Yuugi pulled Atem close, putting an arm around him as he lay on his side; Atem sighed, and pressed his forehead against Yuugi’s, grateful for the comfort.

“I’m going to turn the light off now, alright?” Grandpa said from the other bed.

Atem froze.

He was going to turn the light…  _ Off?  _

Atem wanted to protest- He  _ needed  _ the light on, he couldn’t go back to the darkness, he knew he couldn’t. And yet… He looked at Yuugi’s tired expression, and he heard the sleepiness in Grandpa’s voice. The two of them needed to sleep, and having the light on wouldn’t do them any favors there. It was Atem’s fault for waking them up in the first place; It would have been selfish of him to expect them to try to sleep with the light on, too. He just couldn’t bring himself to ask for that.

“...Ok,” he relented after a moment, voice quiet and weak.

Grandpa nodded. “Goodnight, boys. Sweet dreams.”

Atem heard a quiet click, and then everything went dark. Dark, and terrifying.

Atem couldn’t see anything for a few seconds, causing his breath to catch in his throat as his whole body tensed. His eyes darted rapidly around the room, head turning with them as he instinctively, desperately searched for any source of light. He felt Yuugi give him a gentle, reassuring squeeze- And then he paused, blinking for a moment.

Right… Yuugi. Yuugi was there with him. This was the physical world, not the cold, empty abyss of the disassembled Millennium Puzzle; As long as he could feel Yuugi’s warmth, hear his quiet breathing, feel the bed beneath him and smell the lingering traces of laundry detergent and Yuugi’s favorite shampoo, he knew he was safe.

At least, that was what he told himself.

He felt almost as if the darkness were physically closing in on him, like a wave of pressure, trapping him in place, choking the air from his tiny lungs; He couldn’t see a thing, and his mind told him that this meant that he was alone, abandoned, locked away for good with no hope of ever seeing another living being. He knew, logically, that this wasn’t true, but- but-

...He wanted to ask to turn the light back on, but he knew he couldn’t. He’d already asked for too much. He knew he probably wouldn’t be sleeping any time soon- He was far too terrified of what might happen if he did, too afraid of the possibility of not waking up- But as long as Yuugi and Grandpa got a good night’s sleep, that was fine.

Atem took a deep breath, pulled Yuugi closer, and tried to focus on the feeling of being held. He tried to ground himself, and keep remembering that he wasn’t alone; The darkness, no matter how scary it may have felt, couldn’t hurt him.

At least, that was what he kept telling himself, over and over again, wondering how many times he would have to say it before he believed it.

* * *

Atem spent the night feeling like he was floating in and out of a haze.

He didn’t know how long he’d been awake- or if he’d even been awake the whole time, or if he’d fallen asleep- but he’d spent the past several… hours? (One? Two? Ten? He didn’t know how long it had been, and that scared him) trying to fight against his fear as quietly as possible.

At times, he was mostly ok. Anxious, yes, but aware that he wasn’t actually in any danger, that it was just a feeling left over by his brain’s pattern recognition instinct. Other times, he felt absolutely convinced that he was inside the Millennium Puzzle, as if he’d forgotten that he’d ever been outside of it; It was only when he’d occasionally hear Grandpa snore or feel Yuugi stir slightly that he’d remember where he was.

Mostly, he just spent the night being very still and very quiet and very very terrified.

For the moment, though, his mind felt relatively clear. He noticed that, for a few minutes now, he’d been gradually beginning to see things in greater detail, which was interesting; After a while, his tired mind suddenly realized what that meant, and his heart skipped a beat in excitement.

The sun was coming up! Finally! Of course the sun was coming up. Now he knew everything would be fine; As long as the sun was up, he was safe. The darkness couldn’t hurt him. (How he’d come to this conclusion, he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t care. It was something.)

At 6:26 A.M., utterly exhausted, Atem finally fell asleep.

* * *

A knock came at the door as Yuugi brushed his hair.

It was around 11:20. Grandpa had been awake for quite some time, though Yuugi had only recently gotten up; Atem, meanwhile, was still asleep, curled up on the bed with an innocent expression. Yuugi had stayed with him for a little while, enjoying staying in bed, but had eventually grown bored, and thus slipped out of Atem’s arms as gently and quietly as possible.

“I’ll get it, Yuugi,” Grandpa told him, nodding towards the door and keeping his voice low for Atem’s sake. Yuugi hurriedly finished brushing his hair, and placed the brush on the table as Grandpa opened the door.

“Ah, Marik-kun, Bakura-kun! Good morning,” Grandpa said cheerfully.

“Good morning,” they replied in unison.

“We brought food,” Marik added, holding up a brown paper bag.

Grandpa smiled, and opened the door wider. “Go on in, then. Be quiet about it, though, Atem’s still sleeping.”

Marik and Bakura nodded in acknowledgement as they entered the room. Marik carefully, quietly put the bag down on the table, and then waved to Yuugi.

“Good morning!” Yuugi greeted them, being careful to keep his voice low. “You’re looking better today, Bakura-kun,” he commented as a side note.

“Thanks! I slept for thirteen hours,” Bakura replied with a cheerful smile.

Yuugi blinked in surprise. “Oh… I… I see. That’s… Good, I guess..?” he said confusedly.

“Speaking of sleeping…” Marik nodded towards Atem, an amused smile on his face. “He looks like he’s out like a rock.”

“Yeah… He had a rough night,” Yuugi sighed. “If it weren’t for that, I would have woken him up by now, but I’m sure he must be tired.”

“It’s probably best to let him sleep either way, all things considered,” Grandpa added, glancing at Atem with an unreadable expression (Concern? Affection? Puzzlement? Yuugi wasn’t quite sure).

(Atem, meanwhile, had been aware of the others’ presence for some time; Part of him wanted to say “No, I’m awake, good morning everyone”, but that part was rather small compared to the majority of him that wanted to sleep for several more hours. And so, he lay still and quiet, listening to the comforting sounds of his friends’ voices as he drifted through drowsy half-dreams, not quite asleep yet not quite awake either.

He smiled softly when he felt Grandpa run a gentle hand through his hair.)

“Well, anyway… What have you guys got planned for today?” Marik asked.

Yuugi and Grandpa exchanged glances, as if asking this question of each other, too.

“...Nothing in particular, I guess,” Yuugi answered after a few seconds. “I have to do laundry, and I’d like to try to get Atem to eat something more nutritious today if he can, but other than that…” He shrugged.

“I think it’s a lazy day for everyone,” Grandpa added, yawning as if to emphasize this.

“Me too,” Bakura agreed with a slow nod.

Marik gave a thoughtful hum. “Well, if you decide you’d like to get out of the room for a while… I have an idea.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Yuugi asked curiously.

“You and Atem don’t have enough clothes for the week, right?” Marik began.

“Mhmm?”

“Well, I know a shop near here I think you guys would like,” he explained with an excited smile. “I get a lot of my clothes there. I know I’ve seen stuff that reminds me of your style- You guys are goth, right?”

“Oh, um, yeah,” Yuugi answered, a bit sheepishly. 

“Thought so. So, do you want to go shopping later?” Marik asked. 

“Hmm… I’m not sure,” Yuugi admitted, glancing over at Atem. “I think it sounds fun, but I’m not sure if Atem would be up for that. I’ll ask when he’s awake,” he decided. 

Marik nodded. “Alright. I’ve got some errands to run today anyway, so how about I stop by later? And then if you want to come shopping with me, we can go,” he suggested.

“Sure, that sounds great! Ah, I mean- Is that ok with you, Grandpa?” Yuugi asked, looking expectantly towards Grandpa for confirmation. 

“I don’t see why not,” Grandpa replied. “Just don’t spend too much money, alright? I know Atem needs clothes, but don’t you two go putting fashion before practicality!”

Yuugi blushed. “W… We know!” he insisted, though he didn’t sound terribly confident.

Marik laughed. “Don’t worry, their prices are pretty reasonable,” he assured them. “Normally I’d say they might upcharge you for being tourists, but if I’m there I doubt they’ll try.”

“Well, that’s good,” Yuugi said with a nod. “Anyway, what about you, Bakura-kun? What are your plans for today?”

Bakura paused, looking momentarily confused, as if the question had taken him by surprise. “Oh… um… I dunno. I’m just gonna try to relax, I think,” he decided. “Maybe I’ll go swimming later.”

“Relaxing sounds nice,” Yuugi agreed. “If you get lonely, though, you can come hang out with us!” he added, and then blinked as he suddenly remembered the previous night’s events. “...Or, um, don’t? I mean, uh, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, er-”

“I get what you’re saying,” Bakura interrupted gently, with an ever-so-slightly sad smile. “Thanks, Yuugi-kun. We’ll see.”

Next to him, Marik yawned, stretching casually and then glancing at the clock on the nightstand. “Alright, I guess we ought to leave you alone now,” he said half-jokingly.

Yuugi laughed. “Alright.”

“Thank you for the food, Marik-kun,” Grandpa added with a polite nod. 

“Oh, it’s no- Oh! I almost forgot the other reason I came here!” Marik gasped. “Ishizu wanted me to ask- How are you two doing, Yuugi? Everything alright? There’s no signs of any issues, are there?” he questioned, glancing between Yuugi and Atem.

Yuugi looked towards Atem as well, frowning for a moment before shrugging. “We’re ok, I think… I mean, it is a big change to get used to, but I feel fine. And Atem seems alright, aside from… You know, the stuff you’ve already seen,” he said quietly. “I’m a little worried about how he’s doing with adjusting and all that, but I don’t think anything necessarily feels off, if that makes sense?”

Marik nodded. “I think I get what you mean,” he replied. “That’s good, at least. What about the Millennium Puzzle?”

“It… Seems normal to me,” Yuugi answered with a confused frown, shrugging once again.

“Sorry, I know that’s kind of a weird question,” Marik admitted, tilting his head apologetically and sighing slightly. “I think Ishizu’s a little paranoid, now that everything’s supposedly over and the Millennium Items aren’t all where they’re allegedly supposed to be. Which, honestly, I can’t say I blame her for…”

“Yeah, I can definitely understand that,” Yuugi assured him. “You’re not the first person to bring it up, either... I think it’ll probably be alright, though. I mean, it’s not like either of us have any plans to take over the world- And I promise I’ll let you know if anything happens,” he added.

“Alright. Well, I’m glad it’s in trustworthy hands, at least,” Marik said with a nod.

(Yuugi didn’t miss the way Bakura silently raised an eyebrow, glancing from Marik to Yuugi with a look somewhere between amusement and concern, nor the way Grandpa frowned awkwardly at Atem’s innocent sleeping form. Yuugi said nothing, but pouted slightly, if only for a moment.)

“Well, anyway… See you later, then,” Marik said, waving as he turned towards the door. “Glad to see you’re doing alright.”

“Thanks, Marik-kun,” Yuugi replied with a smile. “See you.”

Bakura waved as well, following Marik. “Bye-bye!”

“Take care, boys,” Grandpa called after them. 

Bakura shut the door behind them, and the room became quiet once more. Yuugi yawned, watching Atem thoughtfully as Grandpa began eating an apple from the bag Marik had brought.

Yuugi watched the way Atem slept, chest rising and falling gently, his mouth partially open and drooling slightly on the hand that lay curled next to his face. Yuugi felt a number of emotions in response to this, not the least of them being awe and affection. It seemed like a silly thing to get emotional over, but… In all the time they’d been together, Yuugi had never once seen his Other Self sleep. He’d  _ felt _ it, sure, but Atem had always been insistent on not taking control of the body unless it was for a specific purpose; For all Yuugi’s attempts to convince Atem that their partnership was an equal one, and that Atem was free to have a life outside games, he’d always been too polite- or perhaps too shy- to ever take Yuugi up on this. 

After a year of sharing a body and mind, being together 24/7, Yuugi had never seen Atem do ordinary things like sleep or eat or brush his hair. He’d never had the chance to. Seeing it now… It made Yuugi feel emotions he didn’t know how to describe.

(Atem looked so innocent in his sleep, so… Young. Did Yuugi sleep like that too, he wondered? Had Atem ever watched Yuugi sleep, feeling the same sense of endearment Yuugi was feeling now?)

“...You know, I’m a little surprised he slept through all that,” Yuugi admitted quietly, tilting his head and smiling in amusement at Atem.

Grandpa chuckled slightly. “I’m not sure if I should be impressed or concerned. But he must be exhausted, so I suppose it’s not too surprising,” he pointed out. “Hopefully a nice long rest will do him some good.”

“I hope so too,” Yuugi agreed. “And… I hope he’ll be able to eat a bit more today, too,” he added more quietly. “I’m worried about his health.”

“Mm.” Grandpa closed his eyes solemnly, a worried expression on his face. “I understand that he’s overwhelmed, but he can’t afford to be picky. He has to eat real food sooner or later.”

“He’s not just being picky, Grandpa,” Yuugi insisted. “He  _ can’t _ eat it. You should have seen how he reacted at dinner that first day… He almost threw up twice. He was crying. He was… I hate to say it, but he seemed really scared,” Yuugi recalled, biting his lip. “I wish he’d eat better too, but seeing how awful an experience it is for him… I feel like if we try to pressure him into it, he’ll just want to avoid it even more.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Grandpa admitted with a frown. “Still… He does need to eat.”

Yuugi sighed. “Yeah, I know. He liked that cereal you bought, at least. He said he thinks he likes dried fruit.”

“Well, that’s a start. Maybe he’ll be willing to eat an apple,” Grandpa hoped.

“Maybe.”

For a moment, the room was quiet. Yuugi’s head snapped up in attention as he suddenly heard Atem stir, rolling over slightly on bed and mumbling something.

“Is he awake..?” Grandpa whispered.

“Mmph,” Atem murmured in response.

Atem slowly sat up, awkwardly detangling the blanket from his legs before slipping off the bed. Yuugi smiled as Atem stumbled towards him.

“Good mor- Oh, I see,” Yuugi laughed, as Atem threw his arms around Yuugi’s neck without saying a word, leaning against him; Yuugi stumbled backwards slightly, Atem’s sleepy body nearly a dead weight. “Hi, Other Me.”

“Morning,” Atem mumbled.

“Good morning, Atem,” Grandpa said, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “How are you feeling today?”

Atem yawned, not bothering to move from where he was. “...Tired,” he decided.

Grandpa tried not to laugh. “I can tell.”

“Do you want breakfast?” Yuugi asked.

“Mm.”

Yuugi tilted his head in confusion, not sure if Atem’s response was supposed to be a yes, a no, or an I-don’t-know.

“...Marik brought some food earlier,” Yuugi began, figuring this was a good enough answer in either scenario. “There’s some apples, if you’d like to try one of those. Or you could just have the cereal from last night.”

“Hmm.”

Yuugi sighed. “Alright, how about you start by actually standing up?” he suggested.

“But this is comfy,” Atem muttered, the first full sentence he’d said all day.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. After a moment, he began slowly, gently pushing Atem off his shoulders and into a standing position. 

“Nooooo,” Atem protested in a sleepy monotone, though he didn’t make any effort to resist. 

With… Some effort, Yuugi managed to nudge Atem upright; Atem stood there for a moment, staring blankly ahead with half-closed eyes, before yawning and deciding to make his way towards the minifridge. He poured himself a glass of milk, and then slumped down in the chair next to the table with a deep sigh.

Yuugi sat on the bed, watching as Atem slowly drank his milk and ate a few handfuls of cereal. He seemed to grow a bit perkier with each bite.

“Hey, do you want to go shopping later?” Yuugi asked after a moment, cheerfully direct.

Atem blinked in confusion. “Huh?”

“Marik suggested it, since we… Don’t really have enough clothes for the both of us,” Yuugi admitted, with a slight awkward laugh. “He said there’s a clothes store he thinks we might like. I told him I didn’t know if you’d be up to it or not, so he’s going to stop by later, and if you want to we can go shopping,” he explained. “What do you think?”

Atem took a moment to think about it, frowning in thought and staring at his own reflection in his glass of milk.

“...Sure, I guess,” he decided, shrugging.

Yuugi smiled widely. “Great! That’ll be fun! I’m glad to hear you’re feeling a bit better today.”

“So am I,” Grandpa agreed with a nod. “I was a little worried after yesterday- I know the airport was hard on you. It’s good that you’re still up to going out.”

“Uh… Yeah,” Atem muttered, glancing around the room awkwardly. “Hey, what time is it?”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s about 12:30,” Yuugi answered.

“Oh.”

Though Atem’s voice betrayed no emotion, he thought about this carefully for a moment. 12:30… If he’d fallen asleep when he thought he did, that meant he must have gotten at least six hours of sleep, right? That wasn’t bad. Right?

Actually, he realized, he had no idea how much sleep humans generally needed. He’d never paid much attention to Yuugi’s sleep patterns- They went to sleep whenever Yuugi felt like it (a time frame which ranged from “late” to “never”), and woke up when the alarm clock went off. He didn’t know how much sleep he’d gotten when he was alive, either.

...Well, six hours was a long time, anyway. It was probably a good amount of sleep, he decided with a yawn.

He ate a few more handfuls of cereal, finished his milk, and then stood up, stretching out casually. He glanced over at the pile of laundry on the floor, pausing to frown in thought.

“I hate to say it, but I think you’ll have to just wear the clothes you wore yesterday,” Yuugi admitted with an apologetic tilt of the head, as if he’d read Atem’s mind. “But that’s why I think we should go shopping with Marik later, if you’re still up to it. We definitely don’t have enough clothes for both of us,” he laughed.

Atem nodded, and sighed as he walked over to the pile of laundry. His gaze flickered briefly towards his own, “traditional” clothes- But going by the clothes he’d seen other people wearing around Cairo, those would likely have gotten him strange looks.

He was sure he’d be getting enough of those from just his behavior anyway.

“Do you need help brushing your hair?” Yuugi asked as Atem finished getting dressed. (Yuugi frowned in concern at the way he tugged at the shirt collar.) “I’ll try to be more gentle this time. I’ll go really slow.”

“...I think I can do it myself,” Atem replied, still rubbing at the skin under the itchy shirt collar.

Yuugi nodded, and watched as Atem picked up the hairbrush and began cautiously trying to detangle his thoroughly knotted hair. He’d barely made the first pass when he paused abruptly, flinching slightly; He frowned, and tried again, but gave a slight whimper of pain as he hit another knot.

“You’re doing it the wrong way,” Yuugi told him. “Start from the end, not the root. You won’t have as much trouble with knots that way.”

Atem raised an eyebrow in confusion. “You want me to brush my hair backwards?”

Yuugi laughed. “No, no. I mean do it in little sections, starting close to the bottom and then working your way back up. Here, let me show you,” he suggested, holding his hand out for the brush.

Atem nodded, and obediently handed Yuugi the hairbrush. He sat down on the edge of the bed, watching carefully as Yuugi demonstrated.

“See, you take a little bit, like this-” Yuugi placed the brush near the end of a section of hair- “And then you just… Do a little bit at a time. See?”

Atem watched as Yuugi brushed his hair through with short, quick strokes, gradually moving the brush closer and closer to the root with each pass. Within seconds, he’d thoroughly brushed that section of hair, and held the brush out for Atem to take.

Atem took the brush, and hesitantly, slowly began to try Yuugi’s method, with shaking hands. He started close to the end, so hesitant the brush barely even touched his hair; He tried again, a little more bold this time, and felt the brush most definitely move through his hair, feeling a little resistance- Though it didn’t really  _ hurt, _ to his deep relief. He continued slowly, ever so slowly, wincing as he hit knots every now and then; Eventually, his patience began to wear thin, and he stopped with a tired sigh.

“...Actually, um… Do you think you could do it for me?” he asked quietly. “Sorry. I-II’l try harder tomorrow.”

Yuugi smiled. “It’s ok! I’d be happy to,” he assured Atem. He climbed onto the bed, gesturing for Atem to sit in front of him.

Atem wriggled backwards on the bed until he was seated directly in front of Yuugi, with his back to him. Yuugi took the brush from Atem’s hand, and began slowly, carefully brushing out Atem’s hair.

Atem sighed contentedly and closed his eyes. Yuugi was much more gentle this time than he had been yesterday (granted, only because he was going about twice as slowly), and the feeling of the brush through his hair felt nice. It felt relaxing, almost hypnotic, and Yuugi’s presence only added to the calming effect.

Yuugi hummed absent-mindedly as he continued to brush Atem’s hair, being ever so cautious in order to avoid accidentally hurting him. He worked slowly, holding Atem’s hair carefully each time he found a knot so it wouldn’t pull at his scalp, and went through slowly and carefully with his fingers instead of the brush as he got closer to the root. After about a minute or two, he felt Atem lean against him, and couldn’t help but smile despite himself.

“Hey, come on, sit up. I know you’re tired, but I can’t brush your hair if I can’t get to it,” he laughed. 

Atem, however, didn’t budge.

“Looks like he fell asleep,” Grandpa realized, glancing up from his book and nodding towards Atem.

Yuugi blinked in surprise. “Oh.”

“He must be more tired than he looked,” Grandpa commented, with a slight worried frown. “I guess that nightmare must have taken a lot out of him. Poor thing.”

Yuugi gave a low, concerned hum. He paused for a moment, and then placed the brush down on the bed.

He leaned forwards and wrapped his arms around Atem, resting his chin on Atem’s shoulder, nuzzling gently against Atem’s cheek. He knew, realistically, that he should have been trying to wake Atem up rather than cuddling him, but he didn’t want to. Cuddling felt nice; Atem was warm, and soft, and  _ alive, _ and holding him seemed to somehow calm the raging silence in the back of Yuugi’s mind. He would have happily stayed like that all day, if not for Grandpa’s intervention.

“You should wake him up,” Grandpa told Yuugi. “If you two are going to go shopping with Marik-kun later, you can’t just fall asleep.”

Yuugi sighed. “Yeah, ok,” he gave in, and sat up slightly, gently shaking Atem’s shoulder. “Hey. Hey, Other Me, wake up.”

“Nngh?” Atem murmured, blinking and sitting up. “Huh…?”

“You fell asleep,” Yuugi explained.

“Hmm…” Atem seemed unbothered by this fact, as his reaction was to turn towards the side and curl up against Yuugi’s chest, resting his head on Yuugi’s shoulder and his hand over Yuugi’s heart. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes again.

Yuugi sighed, and shook his head, despite his own instinct to the contrary. “No, come on. You have to get up. It’s almost 1:00,” he reminded Atem.

“Uuugh…” Atem yawned, and reluctantly sat up again. “Fine…”

“Let me finish brushing your hair, and then we can play a game or something,” Yuugi promised with a reassuring smile.

Atem nodded, and turned away from Yuugi again, sitting obediently still and trying to stay awake.

“I’m just so  _ tired,”  _ he groaned as Yuugi continued brushing his hair.

“Did you not sleep well?” Yuugi asked. “Aside from the nightmare, I mean.”

“Not really.”

Yuugi bit his lip. “I’m sorry, Other Me. I hope you sleep better tonight.”

“Me too,” Atem sighed.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes, until Yuugi finished brushing Atem’s hair. He put the brush down, and gave Atem a gentle nudge.

“All done.”

Atem yawned once again, and climbed down from the bed. “Thanks, Aibou.”

He paused for a moment, before walking over to the bag on the floor. He took out several pieces of jewelry- A pair of earrings, two bracelets, and an arm cuff- and put them on.

He glanced at himself in the mirror. It was... Strange, he thought, seeing his own reflection. Stranger still was his outfit; His shirt was one he knew well from his time spent with Yuugi, a black T-shirt with the English word “Death” written on it in an edgy font, while his jewelry was familiar from his childhood in Egypt, normally seen paired with a bare chest or close-fitted linen top. The whole ensemble seemed to confuse his brain, not sure where or when or who he was; Seeing his own face staring back at him in the mirror was bizarre as well, when he’d gotten so used to only ever seeing Yuugi’s.

“Those bracelets look nice with that shirt,” Yuugi commented as he searched through one of the bag’s pockets.

Atem nodded, still watching the mirror thoughtfully. As trippy as it was to look at, it was a good look, he decided. 

Yuugi stepped over to Atem’s side, smiling in greeting before turning his attention towards the mirror as well, uncapping the eyeliner pen in his hand. “Do you want me to do your eyeliner, or would you rather do it yourself?” he asked, as he closed one eye and began applying his own.

“I can do it,” Atem assured him. 

Atem leaned against the wall with arms crossed (a habit he’d had since he was young), and waited for Yuugi to finish. After a moment, Yuugi blinked, checking his eyeliner in the mirror one last time, and then smiled and passed the tube to Atem.

Atem found himself having little trouble in the application of his eyeliner, to his relief. It didn’t take long before he was back to his usual look, matching with Yuugi. This style, for once, was one he’d worn in both lifetimes, and he smiled in satisfaction; As an afterthought, he slipped the Millennium Puzzle around his neck.

“Do you know what time Marik’s coming?” he asked Yuugi.

Yuugi shook his head. “I have no idea. He just said ‘later this afternoon’, so…” He shrugged.

Atem nodded. “Alright. What should we do in the meantime, then?”

“Hmm…”

Yuugi put his hands on his hips as he looked the room over, trying to figure out if anything looked particularly entertaining. TV was probably a bad idea, he realized, given that Atem had already fallen asleep once; Dueling probably wasn’t the best choice either, in case Marik were to show up soon- Both he and Atem tended to get so deeply invested in their duels, they didn’t like to have to stop halfway through. Yuugi knew his Gameboy was in his backpack, but he didn’t really have any multiplayer games… That was about it as far as entertainment went.

His gaze drifted towards the blank notepad on the nightstand, and the pen next to it.

“...We could play a paper game,” he suggested after a moment, nodding towards the notepad. “Tic-tac-toe, or hangman, or something like that. Or we could try to draw a game board and play go or something, I guess.”

“Hmm…” Atem walked over to the nightstand, picking the notepad up curiously. “This is about the right shape for senet,” he realized. “We could use coins for pawns… Oh, um, do you know how to play senet?” he asked, frowning as he remembered Yuugi’s lack of memories.

Yuugi nodded. “Uh-huh. Wanna play that, then?”

“Sure,” Atem answered.

Yuugi reached into his backpack and began gathering coins, while Atem drew a grid on the paper pad. He wrote tiny hieroglyphs in certain squares, barely even thinking about it, having seen the board a thousand times over throughout his childhood.

“Rock-paper-scissors to see who goes first?” Yuugi suggested, dumping a handful of coins onto the nightstand.

Atem nodded, and held up a fist.

“Rock… Paper… Scissors…  _ Shoot!” _

“Ha! I win!” Yuugi exclaimed cheerfully as he covered Atem’s fist with an open palm. “I’ll take silver, ‘kay?”

“Ye- Oh, wait a minute… We forgot about dice,” Atem realized. “Or throwing sticks, or whatever.”

“...Oh yeah.”

Atem and Yuugi stared blankly at the board for a moment, slightly stunned by their mistake. The board sat awkwardly empty, with their game having abruptly come to a standstill before it had even begun; Unlike Jounouchi, Yuugi didn’t have a reason to carry dice around with him, which meant their makeshift senet set was now missing a key component.

“Drop coins onto the bed,” Grandpa suggested. “However many land face up is the number of squares you get to move.”

“Oh, good idea! Thanks, Grandpa,” Yuugi said, gathering up a handful of coins and dropping them onto the bed beside him.

The game proceeded fairly normally, just as intense as any other game between the two halves of Yuugi Mutou- Perhaps even more so, given that senet relied far more on the luck of the die (or coin, in this case) than most of the games they usually played. Still, as long as there was strategy to be applied, it was clear that the two of them were going to go at it with full force.

“Come to think of it, Yuugi… When did you learn how to play senet?” Grandpa wondered.

Yuugi paused for a moment.

“...I’m… Not sure I ever did, come to think of it,” he realized. “I just kind of… Know? It’s like, I remember learning to play, but when I think about when or where or how, it’s just a blank.” He frowned, thinking about this

Why  _ did _ he know how to play senet? He knew he’d never learned- Not in this lifetime, anyway. In fact, he distinctly remembered researching the game when he was younger, and learning that nobody knew the rules, as they’d been lost to history and not yet rediscovered. So then how the hell did Yuugi know the rules to a lost game that he’d never played?

“You  _ do _ remember,” Atem whispered quietly, with wide eyes.

Yuugi blinked. “Do I?” he wondered. “I mean, maybe… But… But I don’t  _ really,” _ he mused, shaking his head.

“You do,” Atem insisted. “I don’t know how, or why, but you do.”

Yuugi frowned. “How do you know?”

“Because we’re not speaking Japanese right now. And we weren’t yesterday, either.”

Yuugi froze.

“...I… I never even thought about that,” he realized. “But then how come I can’t remember anything if I try to? I don’t remember anything about ancient Egypt, so why...” he trailed off, his throat feeling uncomfortably dry.

“I don’t know,” Atem answered, with full honesty. “Do you remember anything else?”

Yuugi shook his head. “No. Like I said, I can’t remember anything if I think about it. I don’t know why I know how to play senet, or… Why I can speak Egyptian,” he said quietly.

Atem went silent for several seconds, lost in thought.

“Maybe… Maybe it’s like a subconscious thing,” he suggested tentatively, after a moment. “Or, I don’t know… Maybe you can remember cultural stuff, but not personal stuff? Can you write Egyptian?”

Yuugi shrugged. “I dunno. This whole thing is really weird,” he said, biting his lip. “I think you must be right about it being subconscious. There’s just… Nothing I can actively remember, no matter how much I try. Nothing other than the language, at least.”

“That’s weird…” Atem frowned worriedly.

“...Well, anyway… Let’s just finish the game,” Yuugi decided. “I-I don’t think there’s much point in thinking too hard about this right now. It’s not like it really makes much of a difference anyway.”

Atem nodded, and took Yuugi’s hand, a silent gesture of reassurance as he waited for Yuugi to take his turn.

Despite this unsettling discovery, the game continued on. Yuugi and Atem seemed to almost forget about the whole thing in the heat of the competition, deeply absorbed in the race on the makeshift game board, until finally the game reached its inevitable conclusion.

“I win!” Atem declared, throwing his hands up in victory. “Good game, Aibou. You put up a good fight.”

“Good game,” Yuugi agreed, smiling widely as he hopped off the bed.

As Yuugi and Atem began tidying up the game, a knock came at the door.

“Oh, good timing,” Grandpa commented as he stood up to answer it. “Welcome back, Marik-kun,” he greeted him with a cheerful smile. “Come in.”

“Hey,” Marik said, waving in greeting with one hand, the other carrying a manila envelope. 

“Long time no see,” Yuugi joked. 

Marik laughed. “Yeah. So, are we going shopping?”

Yuugi nodded. “Yup! We’re ready to go if you are! Just let me get my stuff.”

“Great!”

Marik waited patiently as Yuugi picked up his backpack and stopped in the doorway to put on his boots. Yuugi paused, glancing towards the side as Atem slipped on his sandals next to him: He bit his lip as he realized that those simple, itchy straw sandals were the only shoes Atem owned.

“Oh yeah, that’s another thing we should try to find for you, huh…” he mused, staring at Atem’s feet with a slightly concerned, puzzled expression.

“Maybe we should wait until we get back to Japan to do that,” Atem suggested, though he didn’t sound terribly enthusiastic. “Shoes tend to be a bit pricey, after all.”

Yuugi frowned. “Yeah, that is true… I don’t know… What do you think, Grandpa?” he asked, looking towards his grandfather for guidance.

“I think Atem’s right, unfortunately,” Grandpa agreed. “Will you be alright with those sandals for now? They don’t look terribly comfortable…”

“Nothing I’m wearing is comfortable. The only thing stopping me from cutting the collar off this shirt is a lack of scissors,” Atem deadpanned. “I would honestly prefer to go barefoot, but in any case, these shoes won’t kill me… I guess.”

“Oh, I have a knife if you want it,” Marik added in helpfully. 

Yuugi frowned in suspicion at Marik. “Why do you have a  _ knife?” _

“Why wouldn’t I?” Marik replied simply, shrugging. “Anyway, let’s go.”

(Yuugi raised an eyebrow at this, but refrained from commenting.)

“Bye, boys. Don’t go getting into trouble, now,” Grandpa said, waving them out the door. 

“We won’t!” the three replied in unison, a response that Grandpa was quite certain was entirely performative. 

Yuugi and Atem held hands as they followed Marik through the hall and into the elevator. Atem yawned absent-mindedly as the elevator began moving.

“It’s a good thing the place we’re going to is close enough to walk to,” Marik commented, leaning against the elevator wall. “I know you didn’t like the car ride, and the Metro is… ...Well, it’s certainly convenient, but you would hate it,” he admitted, frowning apologetically at Atem. “So luckily, we won’t have to deal with any of that.”

“Oh, good. That means all I have to put up with is noise and heat and cigarette smoke,” Atem muttered in irritation.

Marik’s face fell.

“Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“No, it’s ok,” Atem sighed. “Sorry, Marik, I don’t mean to blame you or anything… I’m just tired. Sorry. I really shouldn’t complain so much,” he apologized, shaking his head, gaze downcast.

“Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?” Marik asked with a worried frown as they stepped out of the elevator.

“Probably not.”

“Look on the bright side, though,” Yuugi interrupted. “It doesn’t sound like we’ll be going far, and we can go back to the hotel if you feel like you’ve had enough, so this is a good way to get you used to the world. And you’ll get something fun out of it, too! You get to pick your own clothes!” he reminded Atem with an excited grin.

“I guess that’s true,” Atem conceded, tilting his head thoughtfully.

Marik nodded in agreement. “Yeah! Trust me, you’ll have a good time,” he promised. “And it’ll be more quiet inside the store, anyway.”

“I hope you’re right,” Atem replied, as their group approached the door.

At first, being outside wasn’t so bad; It was a bit hot, sure, but there weren’t many cars on the road, and only one or two lonesome pedestrians. The second they turned off the side street and onto a main road, however, Atem’s instincts pleaded with him to turn right back around and go back to their room.

The street was busy, full of people either walking hurriedly to and from their destinations, or talking leisurely- and loudly- with each other, not caring if they blocked the sidewalk. Cars zoomed by and honked each other ruthlessly (as if this would somehow accomplish anything), motors roaring and spewing unpleasant-smelling exhaust. Street carts emitted mouth-watering yet painfully strong smells, along with the painful hissing of food on the grill. 

Occasionally, people would approach them as they walked, seemingly trying to sell them something or ask for money or- Atem didn’t really know what they wanted, to be honest. Yuugi and Atem kept their heads low and fidgeted nervously, with Yuugi trying to quickly stammer awkward, pale-faced apologies; Marik, however, kept walking without hesitation, sending most people scattering out of their way with just a look. Yuugi and Atem pressed closer to each other and hurried to keep up with Marik.

After they’d walked a few blocks, Marik turned back towards Yuugi and Atem.

“I have to drop some stuff off for Ishizu real quick,” he told them, holding up the manila envelope. “You guys can wait outside- It shouldn’t take long.”

Atem took a deep, sharp breath in. “Uh, how… How long is not long, exactly?” he asked nervously.

Marik gave Atem a sympathetic look. “I’ll be as quick as I can. If it makes you feel any better, the street the office is on is a lot quieter than this one,” he assured him.

Atem nodded resolutely, squeezing Yuugi’s hand and following Marik down a side road.

True to Marik’s word, the small, narrow residential street the group found themselves on was practically silent, empty aside from two old men talking quietly among themselves at a small patio table. Marik led Atem and Yuugi over to an entry stairwell, and gestured for them to wait as he pushed the door open.

Atem sighed in relief, and sat down on the stairs. Yuugi soon joined him.

“How are you doing?” Yuugi asked gently. 

“Not great,” Atem admitted. “I feel so stupid… But there’s just _ so much.  _ And everything is so loud.” He frowned, lowering his head in a combination of shame and exhaustion.

Yuugi put an arm around Atem’s shoulders. “I’m sorry. Just do your best, it’ll be over before you know it.”

Atem nodded, and sighed once again, leaning against Yuugi tiredly. He closed his eyes, taking a moment to savor the brief quiet respite.

Yuugi rubbed Atem’s shoulder slowly and gently, watching the street idly as Atem rested. A pair of young children emerged from one of the houses, kicking a ball back and forth quietly; After a few passes, the boy missed his shot, prompting him to run past Yuugi after it- And then pause, and walk curiously up to them.

For a moment, the boy just stared, head turned and eyes curious. Yuugi stared back, not sure how to respond.

“...Hello,” Yuugi said cautiously after a moment. (Atem opened one eye lazily.)

“Shairku yushna alasad,” the boy said loudly, pointing at Yuugi’s face.

Yuugi blinked in confusion, feeling mildly offended, though he wasn’t sure what the kid was saying.

“Hal tatakalamain ai airnee,” the boy realized, frowning slightly at Yuugi.

“Ya! Mana qalut la tatahadshain ma algurba!” the girl shouted from down the street, in what sounded to Yuugi like something of a nagging tone.

“Wa la yahumk!” the boy shouted back, and then turned back to Yuugi, pointing to him and Atem. “Sharaku...” The boy made a sound imitating a roar, and clawed gestures with his hands, then laughed.

Yuugi once again blinked confusedly. “Huh..?”

“Roar!” the boy repeated, gesturing near his head, pantomiming big hair.

“Oh, I think I get it. He thinks our hair looks like a lion’s mane,” Atem realized, an amused smile playing at his face. He turned towards the boy, and leaned closer. “Rooooar!”

The boy giggled and shrieked (causing Atem to wince), bouncing up and down on his toes. “Roar! Roooar!”

Yuugi laughed slightly. “Oh… um… Rahr!”

The boy paused, face falling slightly. He stared at Yuugi with a frown for a moment, and then pointed at Atem.

“Roar,” the boy repeated, and then pointed to Yuugi. “Mwa! Mwa!” he said in a much higher voice, smiling sweetly and imitating a kitten.

Yuugi’s face went bright red, as Atem burst out laughing. “Hey!”

“Ooh, I think he got you good,” Atem teased with a grin. “You  _ are _ a kitten.”

“I am  _ not  _ a kitten!” Yuugi insisted, still blushing as he shook his head rapidly.

“You are!”

“Am not!”

“Ya!” the little boy interrupted. “Ma ismuka?”

Yuugi gave him a confused look. “Huh..?”

The boy paused, and then pointed to himself. “Amir,” he said, and pointed to the little girl, still standing a few feet away. “Layla.”

“La taqul ismee lilgarba’a!” the girl protested.

The boy- Amir, Yuugi presumed- laughed. “Wa la yahumk,” he insisted, and then pointed to Yuugi and Atem, giving them a questioning look. “Ma ismukna?”

“Oh, um… Yuugi,” Yuugi said, pointing to himself, and then pointed to Atem. “Atem.”

Amir nodded. “Yuugi, Atem…” he repeated slowly. “Atem… Roar! Yuugi, mwa!”

“Heeeey!” Yuugi exclaimed, a look of shock and offense on his face. Atem merely laughed.

Before Atem and Amir could tease Yuugi any further, the door opened. 

“Sorry for the wait,” Marik said as he stepped outside. “I tried not to take too long, but, uh… I think half the Egyptology department thinks they’ve adopted me?” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Can’t talk to any of Ishizu’s colleagues without them asking me how my schooling’s going…”

“Why would they want to know about that?” Atem wondered, as he and Yuugi stood up. 

“I help my sister out with her work a lot- Mostly because I don’t have anything better to do, really- So they see me around a lot,” Marik explained. “And, um… Well, obviously no one really knows the full story, but… At this point most people sort of have a vague understanding that I’ve never been to school, I used to have anger issues, and I’m recovering from trauma related to my father’s death,” he said quietly. “So-”

“Wadaian, alakhawain alharirat alsagirat!” Atem heard someone call after them, and turned to see Amir enthusiastically waving goodbye.

“Bye, it was nice meeting you!” Yuugi shouted back, smiling and waving over his shoulder. “Have a good day!”

Marik watched the exchange with an amused, affectionate expression. “You’re good at making friends, huh, Yuugi?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Yuugi said with a sheepish laugh. “Kids in general tend to like me, for some reason. Probably because I look like I’m ten.”

“I didn’t want to be the one to say it, but yeah,” Marik agreed, tilting his head apologetically. “Anyway, yeah, somehow all of Ishizu’s colleagues treat me like I’m their nephew or something? I dunno, I guess it’s because I’m a kid and most of them are older adults, or… Something like that.” He shrugged.

Atem nodded, but said nothing; Being back on the main road once again, he’d only really heard about half of what Marik had said. The cars drowned out Marik’s voice, and there was so much to distract him that Atem could hardly focus on the parts he  _ could _ hear. He hissed in pain as a car honked uncomfortably close to them, and shuffled closer to Yuugi.

Yuugi and Atem followed closely behind Marik, walking at a rapid pace in order to keep up with his significantly longer stride. They followed even more closely as he crossed the street- Not at a crosswalk, not at a red light, no; Rather, he strode casually across in a somewhat diagonal fashion at what seemed to be a randomly selected spot, paying no mind to the cars that zipped by.

Yuugi gritted his teeth and silently prayed for Marik to walk a bit faster.

One way or another, the group made it to the sidewalk unharmed, to Yuugi’s relief. Marik walked a short distance, and then stopped, pulling open the door to a dimly lit shop. 

Atem sighed in relief as the door closed behind them, sealing out the noise of the street; He stood in the doorway for a moment, just taking deep breaths and giving himself a moment to recover from the walk. He could still hear his ears ringing slightly. While Atem tried to collect himself, Yuugi glanced around the room, taking everything in.

The shop was small, and a bit dingy-looking in the daytime light, the sunlight from the window painting its black walls an orangey grey; Still, Yuugi could see why Marik had suggested the place. Stylish, fun, and edgy garments filled the store, hanging on racks, folded on shelves, and making up carefully coordinated outfits on mannequins. Even just from where he stood near the door, Yuugi notes a pair of loose pants covered in zippers and chains, as well as a cropped sleeveless hoodie like the one Marik often wore. Near the register counter was what appeared to be a rack of cassette tapes, though Yuugi couldn’t make out any titles; The back wall was adorned with posters, some of which Yuugi recognized as western rock bands or movies. 

“You ok?” Marik asked Atem, after saying a quick hello to the cashier.

Atem nodded, and opened his eyes. “Yeah, I think I’m ok now. This place looks cool,” he commented as he glanced around the room. 

“See? I told you,” Marik said with a grin. “Go ahead, take a look around.”

Atem wasted no time in doing so, heading right to the nearest rack of T-shirts. Yuugi and Marik found themselves browsing as well, intrigued by the selection. 

“The hard part is going to be finding things that actually fit you,” Yuugi realized with a frown, as he held a pair of “size small” pants against his waist with disappointing results. “If I had a sewing machine, I’d say I could take stuff in for you, but in the meantime…”

“Yeah, I know,” Atem sighed. “Guess the goth 6-year-olds demographic just isn’t big enough to be profitable,” he joked, though Yuugi could hear the dry sarcasm in his voice.

With that, the three continued browsing in silence, exploring the shop curiously.

Atem found himself staring longingly at a pair of leather bracelets with two rows of long metal spikes. He shook his head as if to tell himself no, reminding himself that they didn’t have it in their budget to spend money on frivolous accessories; The point of the shopping trip was to ensure he didn’t have to wear the same outfit three days in a row, not to perfect his goth-punk jewelry collection. Frowning in disappointment, he instead turned his attention towards a rack of sleeveless shirts.

“Hey Marik, what does this say?” he asked, holding up a black shirt with something written on it in Arabic.

Marik glanced briefly at the shirt. “It says ‘bitch’.”

…Atem stared at the shirt. 

“Don’t,” Yuugi warned him. 

“No one will know,” Atem replied softly.

Yuugi groaned. “You don’t even speak Arabic!”

“Exactly. Hardly anyone in Japan speaks Arabic,” Atem pointed out. “No one will have any idea what it says.”

“You are  _ not _ buying that shirt.”

“You’re not the boss of me.”

Yuugi’s face fell flat as he went silent. He decided to change tactics, glancing around the area for a distraction. 

“Look! This one’s got Nirvana on it,” he said, holding up another shirt and forcing an enthusiastic grin, hoping Atem would change his mind.

Atem seemed unimpressed. “Meh, Nirvana’s kinda overrated. I want the one that says bitch.”

Yuugi smacked his forehead in disbelief. “Do you  _ have _ to be so difficult?” he groaned. 

“I’m not being difficult,” Atem insisted. “You’re the one who’s trying to dictate what I’m allowed to buy.”

“Look, I’m not about to go home and tell Grandpa that you spent the money he gave us on a shirt that says ‘bitch’ in Arabic.”

“Grandpa doesn’t have to know,” Atem said simply.

“You know he’s going to ask what it says,” Yuugi pointed out.

Atem shrugged. “So, we make something up. No big deal.”

“So you’re going to lie to Grandpa?”

This got Atem to shut up. Yuugi could see the conflict and mild guilt in his eyes, before he reluctantly put the shirt back on the rack. 

“Why do you have to crush my dreams, Aibou? What did I ever do to you?” he complained. 

“Well, you tried to buy a shirt that says ‘bitch’ on it,” Yuugi answered. 

“It’s a good shirt!”

Marik raised an eyebrow, attempting to hide a quiet laugh. “You know, something tells me you two are going to have no trouble pretending to be brothers,” he commented with amusement.

Yuugi and Atem shared a glance, and shrugged. With the great shirt debate now behind them, they returned to browsing.

“Hey, Other Me, come look at this,” Yuugi said, holding a pair of black cargo pants against his waist. “These pants look like they might fit. What do you think?”

Atem paused in his continued examination of the T-shirt rack, and walked over to Yuugi’s side. 

“Oh yeah, those look pretty close to our size,” Atem agreed, tilting his head thoughtfully as he looked at Yuugi. “A little long, maybe, but having your pants drag on the ground is fashionable. ...I think.”

Yuugi nodded, and folded the pants over his arm. “Great! So now we’ve got one thing. That’s a start,” he said cheerfully. “I think we should try to get at least two or three outfits, and then hopefully that’ll be enough to last the week.”

“Right,” Atem said with a nod. “Let’s keep looking, then.”

As Yuugi looked for more pants, Atem checked the racks nearby.

“Ooh, this is cool!”

Yuugi paused, and raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at Atem. “That’s a skirt,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, and it looks like it could probably fit me,” Atem replied excitedly, holding up the skirt in question.

“It does, but… I don’t think you should buy it,” Yuugi told him with an apologetic frown. “You know guys aren’t supposed to wear skirts anymore.”

Atem’s smile faded to an irritated frown. “Oh, right. I forgot modern society is stupid about clothes,” he muttered. “Can’t I just get it anyway? I mean, look at it! It’s got chains on it! Isn’t that badass?” he insisted, jingling it slightly for emphasis.

“It is, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea,” Yuugi admitted. “Maybe we can find some pants with chains on them?”

Atem threw his head back dramatically and groaned in disappointment. “But pants suck! I mean, have you worn them?! They’re horrible! They’re like straight jackets for your legs!”

“I wear pants every day of my life,” Yuugi replied softly, with a slow, understanding nod.

Atem sighed, and reluctantly put the skirt back on the rack, not wanting to argue any further.

“Modern clothes are stupid,” he grumbled, crossing his arms.

Yuugi gave Atem an apologetic look and a pat on the shoulder. “I know. I’m sorry. I promise someday when society isn’t so collectively insecure as to violently enforce toxic heteronormative Western gender roles at the expense of one’s own culture, I will buy you a cool skirt with chains on it. ‘Kay?”

Atem gave a sad hum, but otherwise said nothing, slumping over in disappointment.

Despite the tragedy of social conventions about what to wear in public, Atem and Yuugi did manage to find a sufficient amount of acceptable clothes- If not always the ones Atem really wanted, due to, as predicted, the fact that many of them were simply not made for people quite so small. Still, they had enough to last the week, and that was what mattered.

Atem fidgeted idly as Marik talked to the cashier, a young man with several spiked piercings who seemed to recognize Marik. (Atem occasionally found himself wondering if they were actually negotiating price, or just gossiping.) Yuugi flipped curiously through the rack of cassette tapes; Nothing seemed familiar, though whether that was due to the selection or just due to language barrier, he wasn’t quite sure. 

He looked up as he heard his and Atem’s names, and saw Marik gesture towards them. The cashier glanced towards them, nodding in response to whatever Marik was saying.

“Hello!” the cashier said cheerfully, in thickly accented Japanese.

“Hello,” Yuugi replied, nodding politely. “Nice to meet you!”

“Hi,” Atem added with a wave.

The cashier nodded enthusiastically and grinned. “Hello! Godzilla!”

Yuugi blinked in confusion. “Huh..?”

“Godzilla!” the cashier repeated, still just as cheerful as before. “Tokyo Godzilla! Thank you very much!”

Yuugi and Atem frowned and exchanged confused glances, not sure how to respond.

Marik groaned. “I’m sorry, guys, that’s the only Japanese he knows,” he explained. “He said he learned it all from Godzilla movies and that one song.”

“What song?” Yuugi wondered.

“You know, the one that goes… how was it…” Marik paused as he tried to recall the melody. “‘Doumo arigatou, Mister Robot-o!’”

“Doumo, doumo! Doumo, doumo!” the cashier chimed in with a laugh.

Yuugi and Atem stared at the two of them with blank expressions.

“...I don’t think I’ve ever heard that,” Atem admitted in confusion.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Marik shrugged. “I think it’s Australian or something, I dunno. Anyway, you can go ahead and pay now,” he added, changing the subject.

Yuugi nodded, and took out his wallet, taking several seconds to count out the amount displayed on the register. He handed the money to the cashier, who smiled cheerfully as he handed Yuugi a shopping bag in return.

“Goodbye! Thank you very much, Godzilla!” the cashier told the group with a good-natured laugh as they turned to leave.

“Bye, thanks!” Yuugi replied, waving goodbye.

Atem followed Yuugi outside, as Marik made one last joke or two with the cashier. Atem and Yuugi winced slightly upon turning around; The sun was sinking lower in the sky, as the afternoon went on, and it seemed to be shining directly into the storefront (and, by extension, his eyes).

“I’d say that went well,” Yuugi commented as they stepped outside, smiling softly. He walked with a cheerful energy, as he often did, swinging the bag as he moved.

Atem couldn’t help but smile as well, despite how much he hated walking through Cairo; Yuugi’s good nature was contagious. And besides, despite the number of failures involved, there was something… Oddly thrilling about the act of buying his  _ own _ clothes, getting to pick clothes  _ he  _ liked for  _ himself  _ instead of just sharing with Yuugi (though he didn’t doubt they’d still probably have something of a shared wardrobe, given their similar fashion sense and identical clothing size). Now, his existence didn’t feel quite so ephemeral; He was  _ staying, _ and now he even had clothes of his own, like a real person.

He _ was _ a real person. Forever. No one could ever take his personhood away from him again. He was alive, he was real, and he was going to stay with Yuugi, forever.

Atem grinned, and squeezed Yuugi’s hand in excitement.

* * *

By the time they made it back to the hotel, Atem was significantly less excited. He kicked off his sandals and flopped onto the bed with a sigh, rubbing at the sore spots on his feet, wishing his ears would stop ringing from the noise outside.

“Welcome back, boys,” Grandpa greeted them. “How did your shopping trip go?”

“Pretty good, I’d say,” Yuugi answered, as he put the shopping bag down by the sports bag. “We got one pair of pants, a pair of shorts, and three shirts! And some underwear, of course.”

“I wanted a skirt, though,” Atem muttered absent-mindedly. (Yuugi shot him an apologetic look.)

Grandpa smiled. “That’s good! That ought to be enough to get you through the week, as long as we do laundry.”

“Mhmm!”

Atem sighed as Yuugi sat down on the bed next to him. He held out a hand, which Yuugi automatically took without a word.

“How are you doing?” Yuugi asked Atem gently.

“I’m ok, I guess,” Atem said, moving a bit closer to Yuugi, closing his eyes contentedly. “I’m glad to be back at the hotel. I-”

“Oh, by the way, what do you two want for lunch?”

Atem groaned at Grandpa’s question.

“Do we have to have lunch  _ now?” _ he grumbled.

“Soon, yes,” Grandpa replied, sounding just slightly irritated. “It’s late! I’m hungry! And I’m sure you two must be hungry, too,” he added.

“A little bit, yeah,” Yuugi admitted.

Atem sighed. “I don’t  _ want _ to eat.”

Yuugi and Grandpa exchanged worried glances.

“You have to eat,” Yuugi told him gently. “It’s not good for you to go hungry all the time.”

Atem shook his head. He could feel himself getting weirdly shaky, and he couldn’t tell if it was from anger and anxiety, or the fact that he was genuinely hungry. He knew Yuugi and Grandpa were right, and that only made him feel worse; He _ knew  _ he was only hurting himself, and that scared him. He wanted to take care of himself, he did, but eating was so awful, and he’d already had his comfort levels entirely depleted by the shopping trip. He wanted to rest.

“No. I don’t want to eat lunch. I… I hate eating,” he admitted, voice shaking. “I already had to go out… Can’t I skip lunch?”

“No, you can’t,” Grandpa replied. “You’ve barely eaten more than a few handfuls of cereal for the past three days. That’s not healthy. I understand that it’s hard, but you need to take care of yourself, my boy.”

Atem felt his breath catch. 

“No, you don’t!” he suddenly blurted out, unable to stop himself. “If you understood, then… then…”

...He didn’t know why, and he wished he could have stopped, yet somehow Atem found himself suddenly bursting into tears.

“If you understood then you wouldn’t be saying these things to me.”

Yuugi and Grandpa stared at Atem with expressions of slack-jawed shock; Before either of them could say anything, Atem curled up on the bed, pulling the blanket up over his head. He rolled over onto his stomach and began to sob quietly into the mattress, his whole body shaking.

Grandpa frowned worriedly. “Atem-”

“No!” Atem shouted back. “Just… Just leave me alone! Please,” he added more quietly.

Grandpa bit his lip, and lowered his head.

“Alright.”

Yuugi and Grandpa remained silent for the next few minutes, exchanging guilty looks, watching Atem worriedly. Neither quite knew what to do; Yuugi reached out to touch Atem’s shoulder several times, yet paused every time, not sure if doing so might only upset him more. He sighed, and resigned himself to simply wait in silence until Atem calmed down.

It took a good ten minutes or so before Atem quieted down, his sobs turning into more muffled whimpers. Yuugi took a deep breath before speaking.

“Atem?” he asked quietly. “Can we talk? I promise I’m not going to try to make you do anything.”

Atem paused for a moment, before hesitantly nodding. “O-Okay.”

Yuugi lay down next to him, and slipped underneath the blanket Atem was hiding under. Atem turned to face him, and Yuugi bit his lip.

He looked miserable.

“Are you ok?” Yuugi asked softly, putting a hand on Atem’s arm ever so gently.

Atem shook his head and sniffled. “I… I’m  _ tired _ and I’m hungry and everything is awful and I don’t know what to do,” he sobbed. “It’s not fair... I’m trying so hard…”

Yuugi sighed. “I know you are. I know,” he assured him, reaching up to run a hand through Atem’s hair. “I wish there were more I could do to help you.”

Atem leaned into the touch, wiping at his eyes with one hand. “I don’t know what to do,” he repeated. “I’m scared. And… And I’m hungry.”

“Have a little cereal, if you can,” Yuugi suggested. “It’s not really a lunch, but it’ll help.”

Atem nodded. He took a deep breath, taking a moment to gather himself, before hesitantly pushing away the blanket and crawling out of bed. He stumbled slowly towards the table, his posture tired and dejected.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you, Grandpa. I- I didn’t mean it,” he mumbled, shaking as he opened the box of cereal. “I’m sorry.”

Grandpa gave Atem a reassuring smile, though there was worry in his eyes. “I know, dear. It’s alright. I’m sorry I upset you.”

“‘S’ okay,” Atem replied, sniffling slightly. 

He reached into the box and took a handful of cereal. It seemed to take forever to chew, its flavor dull, texture flat and lifeless; He wasn’t sure if the cereal had gone stale, or if he was simply too exhausted to eat properly.

Meanwhile, Yuugi hopped off the bed and over to the fridge, where he took out the now-half-empty jug of milk. 

“It’s a good thing you can at least drink milk,” he commented as he poured two glasses. “Milk is really good for you. You know, calcium and all that.”

“Mm.”

Yuugi set both glasses down on the table. While Atem drank, Yuugi started looking through the bag Marik had left.

“...There’s some hummus in here, and some pita bread,” he observed. “Maybe you could try some of that? I know you don’t like mushy food, so you could try tearing the bread into small pieces and just eating a little bit at a time,” he suggested, glancing towards Atem thoughtfully.

“I guess I can try it,” Atem muttered, though he didn’t sound terribly enthusiastic.

Yuugi nodded, and took out the tub of hummus and slices of bread.

“I think I’ll try some too,” he decided with as he opened the container.

Atem watched as Yuugi took a piece of bread and scooped a generous helping of hummus from the tub, then took a large bite out of it. Yuugi gave a pleased hum and a thumbs up, nodding in approval; Atem, however, remained apprehensive, tearing a small piece off of his pita and attempting to scoop as little of the hummus as possible. (He still, regrettably, wound up with more than he would have liked- Perhaps due to the way his hand shook.)

Yuugi’s description of hummus as being “mushy” was a hell of an understatement, Atem thought. The consistency, to his mind, was like if he’d walked into the Nile, scooped up a handful of whatever muddy sand was at the bottom, and put it in his mouth. But god, it was _ tasty  _ mud, though; Despite its horrible texture, the flavor was quite enjoyable. Atem was pleasantly surprised to find himself feeling genuinely somewhat confident that he may have had a chance of tolerating more than just a few bites- Provided he still continued eating only tiny pieces at once, of course. He shuddered to think of what a mouthful of hummus would feel like.

“What do you think?” Yuugi asked.

Atem didn’t answer right away, taking a sip of milk.

“...I don’t like the way it feels, but I like the way it tastes,” he replied after putting the glass down. “I like the garlic.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to eat more of it?”

Atem paused, taking a moment to think about it, before giving a hesitant nod. “Probably. Maybe.”

Yuugi smiled widely, despite the less-than-optimistic answer. “Great! Then that can be your lunch,” he decided.

“Hummus has a lot of protein in it, so it’s a good choice,” Grandpa added, with a grin and a nod of agreement.

Atem perked up slightly at this, surprised to hear actual  _ approval _ of his food choices, rather than being scolded for his horribly dysfunctional eating habits. It felt... nice.

“Oh… well… That’s good,” he said with some awkwardness, and dipped another piece of bread.

If it would make Yuugi and Grandpa happy, he’d eat the whole tub.

As Atem continued to slowly eat, Grandpa stood up and stretched. “I’m going to go out and pick up something for the rest of us,” he announced. “Is there anything in particular you’d like, Yuugi?”

“A burger,” Yuugi answered immediately.

Grandpa raised an eyebrow. “Yuugi… We’re in  _ Egypt.” _

Yuugi simply shrugged.

Grandpa sighed. “Alright, I’ll see what I can find,” he grumbled, shaking his head in disbelief. “See you in a little while.”

* * *

Several hours later, the hotel room was filled with a tension so sharp it almost seemed to cut the air itself. Grandpa and Atem watched with held breath as Yuugi slowly, cautiously, ever-so carefully removed a pair of cards from the top of a card tower. All three sighed in relief as he gently dropped the cards onto the table, with the tower still intact.

“Alright, I survived,” Yuugi breathed. “Your turn, Other Me.”

Atem nodded, and dropped a handful of coins onto the ground.

“Five,” he announced. “Let’s see…”

Atem stared down at the small paper board, contemplating the arrangement of playing pieces with a look of concentration. 

“...Alright, I’ll move my archer,” he decided, sliding one of his pieces onto the middle row. “Your move.”

“Aw, you’re trying to snipe my tank, aren’t you?” Yuugi muttered.

Atem simply shrugged, feigning innocence (with a not-so-innocent smirk) as Yuugi scooped up the coins, shook his fist, and dropped them again.

“Six!” He cheered. “Alright then, I’ll switch my mage with your archer, sending him back to row one.”

“Damn it.”

While Yuugi slid the game pieces around, grinning mischievously, Grandpa glanced at the clock.

“Not to interrupt, boys, but… We should call home soon,” he reminded them. “We’ve got a lot to discuss, and it’s getting a bit close to dinner time.”

Yuugi and Atem exchanged nervous glances; Neither of them were looking forward to that conversation.

“Can we do it after the game?” Yuugi suggested. 

Grandpa gave a half-frown of uncertainly. “I’d say yes, but… You’ve been playing for twenty minutes, and you only just got all your pieces on the board,” he pointed out.

“We can’t just stop in the middle of the game,” Atem insisted.

“I know, I know… Let’s say you can play for half an hour, and then that’s it, alright?” Grandpa decided. 

“We could reduce the win conditions,” Yuugi suggested. “Make it first to three, or something. You know, aside from getting KO’d or knocking the tower over.” He shrugged.

“Works for me, I guess,” Atem replied, and picked up the coins.

He hesitated before dropping them, finding himself lost in thought. The phone call with Yuugi’s parents (or more likely just Yuugi’s mom, Atem realized, as his dad would be at work) was… Not one he was looking forward to, to put it mildly. His entire future rested on this call; If Yuugi’s parents were to reject him, to decide that they weren’t willing to raise another child, then-

“Atem?” Yuugi prompted, interrupting his train of thought. “Are you going to roll, or what?”

Atem blinked, shaking his head to wake himself from his stupor. “Right. Yeah, sorry.”

With a sigh, he opened his hand. The coins fell to reveal a 50/50 split- Three heads, and three tails. 

“Three.”

Atem turned his attention back towards the board, trying his to put his worries aside as he contemplated which piece would be the most strategically sound to move. It didn’t take long before all thoughts of Yuugi’s parents seemed to vanish, pushed out by the sheer number of other thoughts running through his mind as he simultaneously examined multiple pieces at once, mapping out dozens of possibilities in his head.

Anxiety be damned, if one thing was certain in Atem’s very chaotic life (or… lives, as it were), it was his inclination towards games. Sure, maybe Yugi’s parents would reject him and tell him to stay away from their son and he’d be a sad lonely homeless orphan, but right now, there was only one thing that mattered: Beating his other half at Ultimate Senet.

Atem moved a piece forward, and looked up at Yuugi.

“Your move.”

* * *

“That was fun,” Yuugi said as he began cleaning up the game. “I think Ultimate Senet has a lot of potential. Maybe we should try to publish it someday!”

Atem nodded. “Yeah! Although we’d have to get rid of Time Wizard and Sonic- Though we might be able to keep Time Wizard if we can convince Kaiba to publish it, but I doubt he’d be willing to buy Sonic’s licensing rights from Sega.”

“Let’s be real, we don’t want to publish with KaibaCorp anyway,” Yuugi replied dryly. “Kaiba already thinks he owns our careers… Better not to get involved.”

“Good point.”

Atem yawned, stretching out as he stood up from his chair. He glanced idly out the window, watching the city below, and feeling very glad to not be out in it.

“Now that you two are done, we should call home,” Grandpa reminded them.

The smiles on their faces quickly faded.

“...Right,” Yuugi said, biting his lip and taking a deep breath, forcing himself to be brave. Fear would get him nowhere; He’d learned that the hard way, after a lifetime of anxiety. The more he stayed calm, the better a case he’d be able to make for themselves, anyway.

Atem, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have Yuugi’s confidence. Yuugi noticed the way Atem’s eyes darted between Grandpa and the phone, a nervous look on his face.

“Um… Do I have to be part of this conversation?” Atem asked hesitantly.

Grandpa frowned, glancing at Atem with a look of thoughtful concern. “Do you not want to be?”

“I… Would prefer not to, no,” Atem admitted.

“...I suppose you don’t have to, then, unless Yuugi’s parents want to talk to you directly,” Grandpa conceded. “Yuugi and I can handle it.”

Atem let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. “If it’s alright, then, uh… I think I’m going to go see what Bakura’s up to,” he decided.

“Fine with me,” Grandpa replied.

“See you later,” Yuugi said, giving Atem a quick hug. “I’ll come join you when we’re done.”

Atem nodded, returning the hug, wishing for a moment that he didn’t have to let go. “Good luck. And… Thank you,” he added, before turning to the door.

(Yuugi and Grandpa waved him out, and turned to the phone with looks of mild dread.)

Atem sighed, fidgeting with his shirt nervously as he walked down the hall. He almost missed Bakura’s room the first time around, having briefly forgotten the number in his anxiousness; Nonetheless, he eventually found it. He hesitated for a moment, taking a deep breath before tentatively knocking on the door.

He waited patiently for a few seconds, and after a moment, he heard Bakura stand up and walk to the door.

“Hello, Atem-kun,” Bakura greeted him with a soft smile. “How are you?”

Atem opted not to answer that question, shrugging for lack of a better response. “Hey, Bakura-kun… Um, sorry to bother you, but… Is it ok if I hang out with you for a while?” he asked hesitantly.

Bakura nodded, smiling reassuringly. “Sure! Is Yuugi not with you?” he asked, suddenly frowning in confusion at this unusual happening, as he stepped aside to let Atem into the room.

Atem shook his head. “He and Grandpa are… Calling Yuugi’s parents,” he explained quietly.

A look of quiet, solemn understanding passed over Bakura’s face. “Don’t want to be in the room for that conversation, huh?”

Atem nodded silently, and- for lack of a better spot, in the single-person hotel room- sat down on the floor with a sigh.

“Are you ok?” Bakura asked worriedly.

“Yeah,” Atem replied, nodding half-heartedly. “I’m just… Stressed about stuff, that’s all. And I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

Bakura gave Atem a sympathetic look, and sat down next to him. “Stressed, huh? Do you want to talk about it?”

Atem shrugged. “What is there to talk about? Yuugi and Grandpa are going to call Yuugi’s parents and explain this whole situation to them, and they’ll either agree to let me live with them, or they’ll say no and then I’m screwed,” he replied with a slight nervous laugh. “Talking about how I feel isn’t going to change a damn thing. Either things go well, or they don’t.”

Bakura frowned worriedly, biting his lip. The slight hysterical edge to Atem’s voice was… Concerning, to say the least. But Atem did have something a point- Ultimately, the situation was out of their hands.

“I’m sorry,” Bakura whispered. “But, um, hey… If- If, god forbid, things don’t turn out well… I mean, you know I live alone. You’re welcome to stay with me,” he said sincerely. “I know it’s not exactly ideal, but… It’s probably better than the alternative.”

Atem closed his eyes solemnly for a moment.

“Thank you, Bakura-kun. I appreciate that,” he replied quietly. “I hope it won’t come to that, but if it does…”

He trailed off, and then went quiet. A heavy silence filled the room as the reality of the situation suddenly set in. Here were two former enemies- Still just teens, not even out of high school yet- Making backup plans to ensure one of them wouldn’t wind up homeless if his family rejected him, a very real possibility.

Atem felt oddly frozen. Numb. Like all his tears had already dried up, and now nothing was left but a stiff, hollow, empty husk of fear and sadness and dread.

“...Hey, I have a suggestion for something that might cheer you up,” Bakura said after a moment. “If you want, I could try doing a tarot reading for you? I don’t know if you believe in that sort of thing or not, but my deck is rarely wrong.”

Atem blinked. “I mean, I  _ am _ a half-soulless undead sorcerer with a cursed magic necklace. It’d be kind of weird if I decided tarot was where I draw the line,” he pointed out.

“Fair enough,” Bakura conceded with a slight inclination of the head. “So, is that a yes or a no?”

“...I suppose so,” Atem decided. “I don’t know how much I’ll like the results, but… Maybe it’ll help with the anxiety over not knowing.”

Bakura smiled. “Ok! Just give me a minute to grab my deck. Why don’t you go ahead and sit down on the bed, and then I’ll set up?”

Atem nodded, and climbed onto the bed, propping up one of the pillows against the headboard.

Bakura dug through his bag for a moment before joining Atem, sitting down cross-legged at the foot of the bed. In his hands were a tarot book, along with a black suede pouch, with an elegant, friendly-looking combination of a sun and moon printed in gold on the front; He opened the pouch and took out a piece of swirly blue and gold cloth, which he spread out on the bed between them. Finally, he carefully took out the deck, and began shuffling it in his hands.

“I hope I don’t offend you at all,” he said as he shuffled. “This deck tends to be really accurate, but at the same time it can sometimes be a bit… Brutally honest,” he admitted apologetically.

“That’s alright. I trust your deck.”

With that, Bakura finished shuffling, placing the deck on the cloth mat.

“I’m going to do a spread called the ‘love horseshoe’,” he informed Atem. He couldn’t help but laugh slightly as he noticed the look of distaste on Atem’s face, and gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know, it’s not the greatest name ever. Believe it or not, it’s actually just for relationships in general, regardless of what kind,” he promised him. 

“Alright then,” Atem replied, though he still sounded a bit uncertain.

Bakura watched Atem thoughtfully for a moment, and then blinked, turning his attention back towards the cards. 

“The first card in the horseshoe spread represents the past,” he began. “Or really, not so much the past  _ literally,  _ more like the foundations of the relationship- What sort of history might affect the relationship as it stands now.”

Atem nodded, and bit his lip, watching a bit nervously as Bakura turned the card over. 

“The Queen of Cups,” Bakura announced. “The Queen of Cups represents an artistic, feminine, emotionally sensitive, very motherly woman. She’s usually a helpful figure who tends to have a lot of sympathy for others.”

“So that means… What, exactly?” Atem wondered, raising an eyebrow. “If this is about Yuugi’s mom, I’m… Not sure I’d really call her artistic.”

Bakura shook his head. “Tarot cards that reference people aren’t always talking about literal individuals- Although sometimes they are, but in general, you can also think of them as personifications of concepts,” he explained. “Since the first card in the spread represents foundations of the relationship, I’d say that this is a good sign. It means that there’s a lot of openness and willingness to build a relationship, and there are already parental instincts in place,” he continued. “I may not know a lot about Yuugi’s parents, but I think what this is getting at is that they’re just that- Parents. I would be surprised if they were to just outright reject a child who doesn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Atem conceded, though he felt a bit… Stung, perhaps, by Bakura’s description of him- Even if it was a rather apt one. Forget the cards, Bakura was the one who was “brutally honest”, Atem thought.

Bakura seemed to notice Atem’s uncomfortable expression, and gave him a reassuring smile. “Hey, cheer up. Like I said, this is a good thing. It means they’re open to building a relationship with you,” he reminded Atem.

Atem nodded. “Right. Yeah. Ok. What’s next, then?” he asked hesitantly. 

“Well, the next card represents the present,” Bakura answered. “It’s probably the most subjective card in this spread. It represents how you view the relationship right now.”

Atem watched as Bakura flipped the card over, and was soon met with a very familiar image. 

“A chariot?”

Bakura nodded. “The Chariot is kind of a complex card. It can represent things like balance, overcoming hardship, juggling responsibilities, stability, and working hard to maintain order. Think of it like a real chariot: Good chariots win wars, but if you can’t control your horses, it’s not going to go very well. Right? So the Chariot is about successfully maintaining balance and control over a situation.”

“I definitely don’t think of my family situation as being particularly well balanced,” Atem replied, shaking his head.

“No, but like I said, this card is very subjective,” Bakura reminded him. “It’s not about how you view yourself- It’s about how you view your family. If I’m understanding this right, I think it’s probably referring to Yuugi and your grandpa,” he suggested. “They’re a lot more… Collected than you are at the moment, and they balance out your fears with reason and patience. You view them as being your family at the moment, and you’re looking forward to having a stable home life.”

“I… Guess that would make sense, yeah,” Atem agreed with a nod.

Bakura smiled, and turned his attention towards the next card. “The third card represents hopes, fears, and expectations for the relationship.”

He flipped the card, and then frowned slightly. “Two of Pentacles reversed, huh…”

“Is that bad?” Atem asked worriedly, noting the look on Bakura’s face, and the upside-down orientation of the card.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily  _ bad, _ no,” Bakura assured him. “It’s just that I’m not really familiar with this one, so I have to look it up.”

Atem waited patiently as Bakura flipped through his book.

“Ok, so like I thought, it’s another balance card,” he announced, and continued reading. “Let’s see… Indicates high stress levels, a breaking point, periods of moodiness and oversensitivity contrasted by overconfidence and…” he muttered to himself as he read. “Yup, so basically this is telling you a little bit of what you already know: You’re terrified. You’re very stressed, and focused on all the ways things could go wrong,” he explained.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Atem muttered.

“What I think this card is also saying, though, is to be careful that you don’t get too caught up in that fear and lose sight of reality,” Bakura continued. “Also, that there’s a decent chance of you overcorrecting and insisting that you’re fine when you’re not. So, uh, don’t do that?”

Atem grimaced slightly; Bakura (and his tarot deck) definitely had a point, he realized, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

“Yeah, that… That sounds pretty accurate,” he conceded with some reluctance. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

“Yeah, it sounds a lot like you,” Bakura agreed with a laugh.

(Once again, Atem found himself wondering if Bakura’s deck truly was “brutally honest”, or if that was just Bakura’s own personality.)

“Alright, the next card represents areas of conflict. These can be practical issues, or entirely emotional,” Bakura continued. “So, card number four is- Oh, this is definitely Kaiba,” he realized as he flipped the card, staring at it with an expression somewhere between surprise and disdain.

Atem groaned. “You know, just once I’d like for Kaiba to _not_ be an area of conflict in literally everything I do,” he complained, rolling his eyes. “I feel like I can’t even go to the goddamn bathroom without Kaiba showing up and being all, _‘Aaaaagh! Yuugi, duel me!’_ God, he’s so frustrating sometimes,” he finished with an irritated huff.

“‘Sometimes’?” Bakura repeated, raising an eyebrow. 

“Alright, most of the time,” Atem admitted with a sigh. “Anyway, uh… Please continue?”

“Oh, uh, right.” Bakura cleared his throat awkwardly and turned his attention back towards the cards. “So, the actual card is the King of Pentacles, which represents a rich man- Either literally, or metaphorically. Someone with a lot of resources that can be helpful to you, who is fairly level-headed and responsible, and a reliable and loyal friend once they’ve made up their mind about you.”

“Right, so Kaiba,” Atem repeated. “I don’t get it, though. Why would  _ Kaiba _ be an area of conflict in my family life?”

Bakura tilted his head thoughtfully. “Hmm… Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he your cousin?”

Atem opened his mouth to reply, and then paused, frozen in place for a moment. 

Bakura watched in concern as Atem’s face gradually yet rapidly went through something rather akin to the five stages of grief. Atem took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, clenched his fists-

“...Um, in a more abstract sense, it could also mean that money could be an issue,” Bakura interrupted awkwardly, hoping to placate Atem’s wrath.

Atem slowly let out a breath. “Ok. Cool. Great. Yeah. Love that,” he muttered through clenched teeth. “Money and Kaiba. Perfect. This is great. This is fine. I love tarot.”

Bakura gave him a sympathetic, mildly concerned look, but continued nonetheless. 

“Card five represents outside influences, and what factors may be affecting your relationship,” Bakura said as he flipped the card. “Page of Pentacles- Ok, so, again, basically money. You’re getting a lot of pentacles today, huh,” he noted with a thoughtful frown.

“Is that good or bad?”

“It’s neither, really, just an observation,” Bakura replied with a shrug. “Anyway, this could refer to the financial and/or emotional cost of raising a second child, or it could refer to, like we talked about earlier, the fact that you don’t really have any resources of your own right now and are hoping to be able to rely on Yuugi’s family,” he explained. “Or it could be both.”

“Oh,” Atem said quietly, biting his lip. “So then, is it… Is it going to be too expensive for Yuugi’s family to…” he trailed off, feeling a sudden weight in his stomach at the thought.

“Not necessarily. This card is just talking about outside influences on your relationship,” Bakura reminded him. “So it’s not necessarily saying that money is going to be a problem, so much as it is just that money… Is a thing, I guess,” he said with a shrug.

Atem gave a quiet hum, but said nothing. Bakura took this as a cue to continue.

“The sixth card represents the best current course of action. You’ll want to pay attention to this one,” he said as he flipped the card over, and then frowned slightly. “Oh, hmm… The Lovers reversed, huh… Let me look this one up,” he decided, picking up the book again, flipping through the pages with a look of puzzlement.

Atem’s face wrinkled in distaste at the card. “Ew.”

“Don’t worry, it’s not _ literal  _ lovers,” Bakura assured him as he read. “It just refers to close relationships in general.”

“Then why didn’t they name it, like, ‘Friendship’ or something?” Atem complained.

Bakura shrugged. “I dunno.”

Atem sighed, crossing his arms and glaring at the card as he waited for Bakura to finish reading.

“Alright, so the Lovers reversed represents strife in relationships-”

“How is  _ that  _ supposed to be the ‘best course of action’?”

“I’m getting to it, hold on,” Bakura insisted, shooting Atem a brief scolding look. “It indicates feeling neglected, shut out, angry, jealous- All of which sound like they could be fairly relevant to how you feel about your family, or lack thereof- But it can also indicate difficulties in your relationship with  _ yourself,” _ he continued. “The book says ‘do not make any irrevocable choices at this time’. Don’t say anything you’ll regret, and don’t make any major personal changes.”

Atem sighed, brow creasing in anxious frustration. “But this whole thing is a major personal change for me,” he pointed out. “Two days ago I was dead, and last week I didn’t even know my own name. How am I supposed to avoid major personal changes?”

“Just… Relax, don’t push yourself too hard. Go with the flow,” Bakura advised him. “I know you’ve been having a hard time getting used to being alive, and… Honestly, I don’t mean to get too personal here, but from some of the things you’ve said, it sounds like you’re really worried about, like… You know, fitting in, I guess. Like you feel like there’s something wrong with you for not being like everyone else,” he guessed, with a worried frown.

Atem froze. For a moment, he felt ashamed, afraid even, as if he’d just been found out as a freak; He reminded himself that they’d already talked it out, and his friends had promised to support him rather than judge him. Still, he couldn’t help but feel what was undoubtedly anxiety as he bit his lip and nodded.

“I… Y-Yeah. I do,” he admitted quietly.

“I think what this card is telling you is to not worry about it,” Bakura explained reassuringly, in a gentle tone. “Just relax, and do what feels right to you. Don’t try to push yourself to do things you’re not ready for, and don’t be so judgmental towards yourself. It’s ok to be different,” he promised.

Atem took a deep breath, and nodded. “Alright… Thanks,” he said, voice shaking slightly.

Bakura smiled once again. “Next one’s the last card. Are you ready?”

“Sure.”

“Alright. This card represents the probable outcome, if the suggested course of outcome is followed,” Bakura continued, and flipped over the final card.

Atem held his breath as he waited for the verdict, staring at the card, almost trying to see if he could decipher it for himself.

“The Eight of Cups,” Bakura announced. “I think I know this one, but just in case…” He opened up the book, taking a quick glance at one of the pages. “Yup, so this card signifies a transitional period marked by leaving something behind, such as letting go of an emotional past event. In other words…” He paused, glancing up and smiling proudly at Atem. “If you go with the flow and just don’t push yourself too hard, you’ll be able to move on from your past and live a normal life.”

Atem sniffled, and wiped his eyes- When had he started getting teary, he wondered?

“I’m not sure if… If moving on is really something I can do,” he confessed.

Bakura’s face fell to a sad expression. “I know. I understand how you feel. Moving on doesn’t necessarily mean forgetting, though,” he pointed out. “It just means you’ll be able to enjoy your life going forward, without always being weighed down by the past. Which can be a hard thing to accomplish, but like the cards said- Just relax, don’t worry about it right now, let yourself be however you are, and you’ll get there somehow. You’re going to be just fine,” he promised. 

Atem sighed. “Maybe… I hope so.”

“Hey, I’ve never given a wrong reading,” Bakura told him, with an almost smug smile.

For a brief moment, Atem could swear he saw a glint of something in Bakura’s eyes- Something deeper, stronger, beyond the gentle, airheaded nerd everyone knew. Something not malevolent, no, but cunning, and powerful.

And then as soon as it appeared, it was gone again.

“Anyway, I hope that helps you,” Bakura said as he began tidying up, placing the cards neatly back in their bag; He folded and put away the cloth mat, closed the bag, and placed both the bag and the book on the nightstand. Finally, he stood up and yawned.

“Man, now I’m hungry.”

Atem watched as Bakura stretched out casually, walked over to the minifridge, and took out a plastic bag. 

“Want some?” Bakura offered, holding out the bag towards Atem.

“What are they?”

“Chicken nuggets,” Bakura answered as he pulled one out of the bag.

Atem frowned in confusion. “Aren’t you supposed to cook those before you eat them?”

“Oh, I like them cold,” Bakura replied cheerfully, and popped one into his mouth.

(Atem raised an eyebrow, and wondered why he’d ever been even slightly worried about Bakura thinking he was weird.)

Bakura continued eating out of the bag as he sat down on the bed next to Atem. “Hmm… Wanna duel?” he suggested.

“Honestly, not really,” Atem sighed. “I didn’t really get any sleep last night, and I don’t actually have my deck with me anyway. Sorry.”

“Fair enough, it was just a suggestion,” Bakura admitted. “In that case, wanna watch TV?”

Atem shrugged. “Sure, I guess.”

Bakura reached for the remote, and grinned in excitement as he turned the TV on. “I found a channel that’s all game shows! But I can’t understand any of them because they’re all in Arabic. Maybe we can try to figure them out together!”

“Sounds like fun,” Atem agreed. 

He yawned, and leaned back against the pillow, sighing tiredly as he watched Bakura flip through the channels.

* * *

The knock came at the door about twenty minutes later. Bakura stood up to answer it as quietly as he could, glancing briefly back at Atem.

“Hey,” Yuugi said with a wave. “We-”

“Shhh,” Bakura shushed him, and nodded towards Atem, sound asleep on the bed. Yuugi immediately fell silent, and Bakura ushered him into the room, closing the door gently behind him.

Yuugi watched Atem with a thoughtful look. “How long has he been asleep?” he asked quietly.

“Not long. Probably about ten, maybe fifteen minutes,” Bakura replied, shrugging.

Bakura watched as Yuugi walked over to Atem and began ever-so-gently shaking his shoulder to wake him up. 

“Atem. Hey. Wake up,” Yuugi whispered. “Atem-”

Atem suddenly awoke with a gasp, jumping slightly and glancing around the room in confusion. “Wha… Nnnh? Di… Did Omar win?” he slurred, clearly disoriented from sleep.

Bakura shook his head. “Nah, he got voted off in the second round.”

“Aw.”

Atem yawned and blinked several times, rubbing the sleep from his eyes; He smiled upon seeing Yuugi, yet his smile quickly faded as he realized what Yuugi’s presence meant. It didn’t take long for him to wake up.

“How did it go..?” Atem asked hesitantly, as if he were almost afraid to ask.

Yuugi gave a vague handwave. “Eh… It went alright. The good news is mom didn’t say no, but… I’m not sure she really understands the situation,” he admitted with a slight frown. “She thought we were joking at first.”

“...Oh.”

“Um, like I said though, she didn’t say no, so… That’s a good sign, I guess?” Yuugi pointed out.

Atem didn’t reply, but sighed, and climbed down from the bed.

“Thank you for everything, Bakura-kun,” he said quietly, bowing slightly in gratitude.

“Oh, no problem,” Bakura replied with a gentle smile. “Um, if you want to… You guys are welcome to hang out a bit longer,” he suggested. “We could play some games, or watch TV, or something.”

Yuugi and Atem exchanged glances; Yuugi could tell Bakura wanted company, but Atem seemed less certain. 

Bakura seemed to take notice of this, too. “O-Oh, or if you want, um… You could just take a nap, you know? I don’t mind,” he told Atem.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. No pressure. We can all just chill out,” Bakura insisted with a reassuring smile.

“Alright, then,” Atem decided, shrugging. “I mean, if that’s alright with you, Aibou.”

Yuugi nodded. “Sure, I’d love to hang out.”

Bakura smiled as Atem lay back down on the bed. Yuugi soon sat down next to him; Bakura sat at the foot of the bed, turning his attention back to the TV.

“What are you watching?” Yuugi asked.

“Some game show, I dunno. We’ve been trying to figure out how it works, but it’s all in Arabic, so all I can really get is that contestants get voted off after a certain period,” Bakura explained. “Oh, by the way, want some chicken nuggets?”

Yuugi frowned in confusion at the bag in Bakura’s hands. “Are… Are those… Still frozen?” he questioned, somewhat hesitantly.

“Yeah, I like ‘em that way,” Bakura replied with a grin.

(“Don’t question it,” Atem whispered quietly to Yuugi.)

...Yuugi raised an eyebrow, but decided it was best not to comment. Instead, he turned his attention back towards the TV, watching quietly with the others for a while.

“Hey, you know what? We should have a cuddle pile!” Yuugi suggested after a few minutes.

“Oh, yeah! That sounds nice! I want to try,” Bakura decided immediately, smiling in excitement. “What do you think, Atem-kun?”

Atem hesitated, glancing questioningly at both Yuugi and Bakura. “Are… Are you sure it’s ok?” he asked.

“If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have suggested it,” Yuugi pointed out.

Atem took a deep breath, and nodded. “Then… Yes. I would very much like that,” he admitted quietly.

Yuugi grinned, and leaned back against the pillows, inching closer to Atem until he could lean against his shoulder. Bakura crawled into the bed on his left, and wrapped a (significantly longer than Yuugi’s) arm around both of them.

“I’m really glad you two are my friends,” Bakura said sincerely.

Atem sighed as he gradually relaxed. “Yeah, me too. It really means a lot to me.”

He couldn’t help but smile, feeling a surge of love- both in a metaphorical sense, and in a much more literal physical sense- as Yuugi and Bakura both took this as a cue to snuggle up closer, squeezing him affectionately. He sighed contentedly, and slipped an arm under each of them, pulling them in at the shoulders. His fears about the inevitable trip home seemed to melt away for a while as he lay there, warm and quiet and surrounded by loving friends.

It didn’t take long for all three boys to fall into a gentle sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Kickaxe for the Arabic translations and Inigo for the hilariously accurate tarot reading. Also, if you'd like to know the rules of Ultimate Senet, you can find them [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/15GskxF0BW9-ysHmRKFEnDgDigWyirX-y8X-9p9hOhOg/edit?usp=sharing).


	5. Not to Put Too Fine a Point On It

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD I ACCIDENTALLY UPLOADED THIS AS PART OF THE VAMPIRE FIC. OOPS.

Sometime during the lost hours between late night Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, Atem sat on the edge of the bathtub, feeling a bit empty.

He’d been doing fine with staying awake, for a while. (Well, not “fine”, no- But he hadn’t been making any noise, so as far as he was concerned, that was victory.) But after a few hours, anxiety had turned to terror, and terror had turned to utter panic, until he’d reached his absolute breaking point where he couldn’t take it anymore. He’d run into the bathroom, figuring he could turn the light on and take a few minutes to try to breathe, and Yuugi and Grandpa would be none the wiser; After he’d managed to calm down somewhat, however, he’d realized that there was a problem.

He couldn’t leave.

He sat slumped against the far wall on the edge of the bathtub, eyes half-lidded and mouth hanging open with exhaustion, feeling… Cold. Not physically, but emotionally; There was an eerie, quiet stillness at this hour of the night, with no sounds, no signs of life other than his own ragged breathing and the ear-splitting hum of the electricity in the wall behind him. Space seemed to bend strangely in the small, cramped, white-walled bathroom, and the dingy electric lights were a far cry from the warm sunlight he so desperately needed after so many years of deprivation, and yet still… Still, the bathroom was his only safe haven.

In the strange, liminal atmosphere of the night, Atem almost wasn’t sure there was anything outside the bathroom at all. The bathroom was the only place that was safe, and beyond it was nothing. He felt like the lone survivor of a lost spaceship, floating through space with the tiny bathroom serving as the last escape pod; If he stepped outside, he would be sucked out into the vacuum of space, left floating alone in the cold emptiness forever. Again.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been in there, but he could see the darkness outside, peeking through the partially opened door, trying to sneak in- Looking for him, coming to hurt him, coming to take him away. He couldn’t bring himself to even get close to the door; He didn’t want the darkness to touch him. He was scared that it might.

On top of it all, he was… Utterly and completely exhausted. He felt dizzy even leaning against the wall. His breathing alternated between shallow, far-apart breaths, too tired to breathe regularly, and deep gasps every few minutes as his body suddenly realized its increasing lack of oxygen; His heart seemed to beat with an unusual intensity, slamming in his chest and sending steady tremors all through his tiny body. His limbs felt heavy and numb, his vision blurred, his hearing dulled and distorted, his brain pounding in his skull.

He needed- He needed to lie down. He was about to land on the floor one way or another, and he really didn’t want to wind up with a head injury.

With slow, unsteady movements, he turned towards the bathtub and lifted his legs over the side. He nearly fell, but managed to catch himself, bracing against the wall with an arm that wobbled like jelly; Slowly, carefully, he managed to lower himself down until he was safely inside the tub.

As soon as he was down, he instantly regretted it. The plastic floor of the tub was hard, freezing cold, and _wet-_ He’d forgotten there were still traces of water from everyone’s evening baths. He shivered and whimpered in pain as the cold quickly seeped into his skin, bare-backed with nothing but a pair of boxers; His immediate desire was to take off his regrettably waterlogged underwear (why, oh _why_ had he been dumb enough to think getting in the bathtub with clothes on was a good idea?), run back to the room, climb into bed as quickly as possible and curl up under several blankets until he was warm again, but there was no way that was happening. Not only did he not have the courage to leave the only currently accessible source of light, but he didn’t even have the energy to stand up. Now that he was in the bathtub, he physically could not leave it.

(Well, maybe he could have if he were to put a truly herculean effort into it, but he knew that in his condition, if he somehow managed that he’d only wind up falling over and hitting his head and waking everyone up and also dying of a concussion. So that was a no-go.)

He whimpered again, and curled in on himself as tightly as he could, tucking his hands under his head to try to cushion it against the hard floor. He lay helpless there in the tub, shivering and whimpering, hot tears mixing with cold bath water to pool underneath his cheek. Much like a child sick with a fever, he wanted to cry out for his mother or his father or Yuugi or _anyone_ to come and help him, for someone to hold him close and keep him warm and tell him that he was safe now; But his parents were long dead and gone, and Yuugi and Grandpa were trying to sleep. He had no one but himself.

Cold, scared, and alone, Atem’s only relief came when he finally succumbed to his exhaustion.

* * *

_“No! Noooo-!!”_

_Yuugi screamed in horror as the Millennium Puzzle shattered onto the concrete. Yuugi fell to his knees as Bakura loomed over him, cackling with twisted glee, peering down at Yuugi with a devilish grin from above a scarred chest and stolen robes._

_“Long live the King!” he laughed, a horrible, cruel laugh that echoed through Yuugi’s ears like gunshots._

_Yuugi could physically feel the moment the Puzzle broke, leaving a gaping emptiness in his soul. His Other Self was gone, gone,_ gone, _and he had let him die- He desperately tried to gather the scattered pieces of the Puzzle, but each time he reached for one, it vanished from his hands- He was_ gone-

_“Give it up, runt. The Pharaoh is gone. He’s never coming back,” Bakura sneered. “I win.”_

_“No! You- You’re lying!” Yuugi shouted. “He’s not gone! I can save him, I just have to- I-”_

_Yuugi reached for a piece, but once again, it slipped through his fingers. The few he had in his hand wouldn’t connect, and he could feel his heart growing colder by the second._

_“Come back!” Yuugi sobbed. “Other Me, please, you can’t leave me,” he whimpered as he tried to dig one of the scattered pieces out of the sand, but it was no use. The sand rushed in like a tidal wave, burying it further and further; It soaked up Yuugi’s tears as if it were an endless sponge, quickly drying as hard as bricks._

_Yuugi couldn’t feel his Other Self anymore. He was gone, and the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle drifted further and further apart, sinking far below the endless sand, doomed to never be found, and Yuugi couldn’t reach-_

Yuugi awoke with a gasp, drenched in adrenalinic sweat.

It had only been a dream, he realized, and that knowledge brought some relief, yet the dream had been so vivid that the empty feeling he’d felt still pulsated in the back of his mind. He instinctively reached out for his Other Self, but-

But there was nothing there.

Yuugi’s heart seemed to slam into overdrive as he sat up and turned to his side, lifting up the blankets and fearing the worst. His eyes widened and his breath froze as he realized that it wasn’t just a dream- Atem was gone.

Yuugi’s mind raced a mile a minute with fear as he leapt out of bed, hurrying to the other side of the room.

“Grandpa. Grandpa, wake up,” Yuugi half-whispered, half-shouted, shaking his grandfather’s shoulder perhaps a little less gently than he should have in his panic.

Grandpa groaned, and turned away. “Whaddya want? ‘M sleeping, go away,” he grumbled.

“Grandpa, Atem’s gone!” Yuugi exclaimed through tears, as his voice cracked with despair.

This seemed to get Grandpa’s attention, as he suddenly snapped to alertness. He sat up quickly, reeling with dizziness for a moment, but shook it off.

“What do you mean, he’s gone?” he asked, rubbing his eyes and glancing towards the bed behind Yuugi, as if to see for himself.

“He’s just _gone,”_ Yuugi sobbed. “I- I had a dream the Millennium Puzzle broke a-and I couldn’t fix it, and then I woke up and he wasn’t in our bed, and- And I don’t know what happened, he’s not here and what if he- What if he’s _dead?!_ And I didn’t help him cause I was asleep and-”

“Alright, Yuugi, calm down,” Grandpa ordered, though the concern in his eyes was clear. “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation. Come on, I’ll help you look for him.”

Yuugi choked back another sob as Grandpa slowly stood up and turned on the light; As soon as the light went on, the search began. 

Yuugi frantically checked behind the curtains and under the beds, while Grandpa- In a far more rational state of mind than Yuugi, despite being half asleep- Decided to start with the most obvious possibility: The bathroom. He peeked inside the half-open door, and almost turned around again, until he caught a flash of berry-red hair out of the corner of his eye.

“Yuugi, I found him,” Grandpa called.

Yuugi didn’t waste a second in running into the bathroom. He stopped, glancing around in a confused frenzy, until Grandpa nodded towards the tub; Yuugi followed his gaze.

Sure enough, there was Atem, curled up asleep inside the bathtub with eyes closed, drooling lightly onto the floor of the tub.

“Other Me? Other Me, wake up,” Yuugi pleaded, dropping to his knees next to the bathtub, shaking Atem’s shoulder with a fearful expression.

“Nnh?” Atem mumbled as he began to stir ever so slightly. 

“Are you ok?!” Yuugi gasped.

“...Yeah..?”

“You… You scared me,” Yuugi confessed, sniffling and wiping his eyes. “I couldn’t find you. I-I thought you were gone.”

“Oh.” Atem frowned and yawned as he slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. “Sorry,” he muttered, reaching out for Yuugi.

Yuugi pulled Atem close, trembling with a mixture of relief and fear. 

“Please don't do that again,” he sobbed.

(Meanwhile, Grandpa watched the two with tired, silent disbelief.

He loved both of his grandsons deeply, of course he did. And he understood and respected their various traumas and special needs, and was more than happy to do whatever he could to accommodate them, without an ounce of judgement in his mind. But it was things like “watching Grandson A sob hysterically into Grandson B’s shoulder over the side of a hotel bathtub at god-knows-what-time-A.M. because _someone_ apparently randomly decided to get out of bed in the middle of the night and go sleep in the bathtub instead, and was thus immediately presumed to be dead” that really tested even his patience; He wasn’t angry, no, but god did he wish he were sleeping.)

“Atem. _Why_ are you sleeping in the bathtub?” Grandpa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I was tired,” Atem answered simply.

“That’s a response, dear, not an explanation,” Grandpa told him gently, though not without a slight undertone of exasperation.

Atem’s only reply was an irritated grumble.

“Forget about that. Let’s go back to bed,” Yuugi said, and began turning towards the door.

Atem shook his head. “Mm-mm.”

Yuugi frowned in confusion. “What?”

“I’m not leaving,” Atem mumbled. “You go. I’ll stay here.”

“In the bathtub?” Yuugi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah.”

“You can’t just sleep in the bathtub,” Grandpa said with a frown.

“‘S fine,” Atem insisted, waving his hand dismissively and yawning.

Yuugi sighed, and tugged gently on Atem’s arm. “Don’t be silly. Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Atem remained sleepily-yet-stubbornly in place, crossing his arms. “No.”

“Atem-”

“I’m staying.”

“Go back to bed!”

“I don’t wanna!”

“Come _on!”_

“No!”

Grandpa watched as Yuugi and Atem wrestled on the bathroom floor- Yuugi trying to physically pull Atem out of the bathtub, Atem stubbornly clinging to the side- And sighed in exasperation. This was getting nowhere.

“Atem… Why don’t you want to come back to bed? Is something wrong?” he asked, hoping to get to the root of the issue. 

Atem muttered something inaudible.

“Hmm?”

“I don’t like that room,” Atem repeated a bit more loudly, pouting and avoiding eye contact.

Grandpa frowned in concern. “Why?”

“It’s… It’s too dark. I don’t like it,” Atem explained, shaking his head rapidly.

“We can turn a light on,” Yuugi pointed out.

“But if I- I can just sleep here, and then you won’t have to.”

“You shouldn’t be sleeping in the bathtub,” Grandpa insisted. “You’ll hurt your neck that way.”

Yuugi and Grandpa watched Atem look away, biting his lip as his eyes suddenly began to well up with tears. “I-I’m fine…”

“It’s ok, Other Me. We can keep the light on, it’s not a big deal.” Yuugi gently took Atem’s hand, giving him a reassuring (albeit sleepy) smile. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

Atem took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and finally gave a small nod.

“Ok.”

Nobody commented on the way Atem sniffled and trembled as Yuugi led him back to the bed, holding hands and stumbling tiredly out of the bathroom. Grandpa went ahead of them, and turned off all but the small bedside lamp.

“Is this alright?” he asked. 

Atem nodded, and with that, Grandpa returned to his bed and turned away from them. Yuugi followed suit, climbing into his own bed. 

Atem was the last into bed, slipping underneath the blankets and curling up by Yuugi’s side; He shivered with cold, and sighed as he sunk into the soft pillow, suddenly realizing just _how_ uncomfortable sleeping in the bathtub had truly been. Pressing himself closer to Yuugi, he pulled the blankets higher and nestled further into them, until he felt comfortable. Soon after, he fell asleep once more.

* * *

It was already late afternoon when Atem finally woke up. Yuugi watched as Atem pushed away the sweaty blankets, yawned lazily, and made no attempt to get up, instead letting himself enjoy the comforts of the bed.

“Good morning,” Yuugi greeted him, waving from where he sat curled up in a chair.

Atem made no reply, but glanced at Yuugi and yawned.

“How are you feeling?” Yuugi asked.

Once again, Atem did not respond. Yuugi frowned in concern. “Atem?”

“Oh.” Atem frowned slightly, and sighed, rolling onto his back. “Sorry. Forgot I have to talk out loud.”

Yuugi’s frown deepened at this. “Um… Are you ok..?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, ‘m just tired,” Atem mumbled, yawning for the third time in a row. He sat up slowly, taking a moment to adjust to the shift in gravity, wiping at his eyes and nose and stretching out his shoulders.

“Want a muffin? They’ve got raisins in ‘em,” Yuugi offered, holding up a plastic container.

“When did we get those?” Atem wondered.

“This morning. Marik and Rishid brought them.”

“Hmm.”

Atem poured himself a glass of milk- Chocolate milk this time, “To change things up a bit,” Grandpa had said when he’d bought it- and sat down in the chair across from Yuugi. Speaking of which…

“Where’s Grandpa?” Atem asked, reaching for a muffin and a napkin.

“He went to do laundry,” Yuugi explained. “He should be back fairly soon, I think.”

The two sat in silence for a little while. Atem quietly ate his muffin, pleased with the not-too-moist-yet-not-too-dry texture, while Yuugi remained absorbed in his Gameboy.

“Whatcha playin’?” Atem asked curiously, glancing over towards the screen.

“Dreamland 2,” Yuugi answered without looking up.

“Ooh, nice. Can I play when you’re done?”

“Sure. But first…” Yuugi sighed, putting his game down and looking back up at Atem. “I... think we need to talk. About last night.” He bit his lip. “I feel like there’s more to this than you’re telling me.”

Atem looked away in shame, his gaze downcast. He sighed; Much as he didn’t want to talk about it, he’d known he couldn’t expect to avoid it forever. It was only natural that Yuugi would have questions, and after the previous night’s incident, Atem owed it to him to answer.

“...I guess you’ve probably already figured this out, but… I’m scared of the dark. Like, really… Really, really really really scared,” he admitted. “I know it’s stupid, but it’s- It’s just- It reminds me too much of… The Millennium Puzzle. Sometimes it genuinely feels like I’m back there again, like I can’t remember where I really am.” He took a deep breath, taking a moment to collect himself. “I know you and Grandpa wouldn’t be able to sleep if we kept the light on, so I’ve been trying to just stay up until sunrise and keep quiet so I don’t bother you, but… It’s just been getting worse and worse every night. Last night I couldn’t take it anymore, so I went to the bathroom so I could have the light on, and then I guess somehow I just kinda… Fell asleep.” He finished with a small, awkward shrug.

Yuugi stared silently at Atem for a moment or two, eyes wide as he tried to process this information.

“So… So let me get this straight. You’ve spent the past, like, half a week staying up literally until dawn, having increasingly intense trauma flashbacks and forcing yourself to repress any outward signs of distress, because… You _didn’t want to ask to leave the light on?”_ Yuugi repeated in sheer disbelief.

Atem’s lip trembled, and Yuugi immediately found himself regretting being so direct.

“Well when you say it like that, it sounds stupid,” Atem blurted out. “I guess it is pretty stupid… I-I don’t know. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do,” he confessed, sniffling slightly. “I just didn’t want to bother anyone.”

Yuugi went quiet, not quite sure what to say. There were about a million thing he _wanted_ to say, such as “What the fuck” (Not that he would use such language out loud, of course, but boy was the sentiment there), “Why would you do that to yourself?”, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”, “Why didn’t you tell _me?”,_ “Oh my god how are you even conscious enough to sit up right now”, and “Please never do that again”, but he opted not to say any of them out loud. The last thing he wanted to do was make Atem feel guilty or ashamed, so it was best to use a bit more tact, he decided.

“...Well, I’m glad you told me,” he said carefully after a moment. “Now I understand why you’re always so tired, poor thing… From now on, we’ll leave a light on at night,” he promised.

“You don’t have to do that,” Atem muttered. “You and Grandpa need your sleep.”

“So do you,” Yuugi pointed out. “We can deal with having a little light at night. It’s not a huge problem. _You,_ on the other hand, _can’t_ deal with constant sleep deprivation and intense stress, because it’ll seriously mess you up,” he reminded him with a serious tone. “So don’t worry about us. You just do what you need to do to take care of yourself.”

“If you’re sure… I just feel like you two shouldn’t have to keep going out of your way for me. I mean, you never asked for this… I’m already asking so much of you just by existing,” Atem sighed.

“There’s a lot of things in life that nobody asks for. Sometimes unexpected stuff like this just kinda… Happens,” Yuugi said with a shrug. “I-I mean, usually not stuff like a fully grown teenager just kind of materializing into existence,” he corrected himself with a hasty laugh, “But still… Big life changes just happen sometimes. You don’t have to feel guilty for being alive and having your own needs. I’m really, really glad you’re here, and I know Grandpa is too,” he added, smiling reassuringly.

Atem sighed. “I guess you’re right. Sorry for being such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot, and you don’t have to apologize,” Yuugi told him gently, shaking his head. “Just… When you’re struggling with something, tell me, ok? I promise I won’t judge you. We can figure things out together. I’d rather be a little bit inconvenienced than have you hurt yourself because you were too polite to ask for help.”

“Alright. I’ll keep that in mind from now on,” Atem promised with a nod. “Thank you, Aibou.”

Yuugi gave a wide smile. “You’re welcome, Other Me. Now, here,” he said, holding out his Gameboy. “Nothing cheers people up better than Kirby!”

“Oh, I don’t know… I’d say you’re pretty good at it,” Atem teased, tilting his head thoughtfully and smiling at Yuugi.

Yuugi blushed slightly. “Well, I’m glad to hear that,” he said sincerely, and handed Atem the Gameboy nonetheless.

Atem smiled again, and took the Gameboy, taking a moment to orient himself and see where Yuugi left off in the game. He positioned his fingers over the buttons with a muscle memory he shouldn’t logically have actually had, and-

Both Atem and Yuugi instinctively looked up in surprise as they heard the door handle turn. Not a moment later, Grandpa entered, grinning and carrying something under one arm (along with the bag of laundry he dragged behind him).

“Good news, kids! Guess what came in the mail today?” he hinted excitedly, and placed the object under his arm onto the table.

Atem and Yuugi immediately turned their attention towards the object in question, a large, thick, official-looking envelope. The surface of the envelope was stamped with all manner of postage and labels in both Japanese and Arabic. A preprinted label- which would have looked all too boringly corporate if not for a grinning cartoon dragon- proclaimed it as having come from Kaiba Corporation’s head office, while a handwritten addition addressed it to their hotel room, along with a name: Atem Mutou.

“Oh! This must be your passport and stuff!” Yuugi realized. “So this is it, huh…”

Atem picked up the envelope, staring with wide eyes, feeling a surprising mixture of excitement and uncertainty. All eyes remained on him as he opened it, slipping a fingernail underneath the tape and peeling it away, prying the small metal closure open. With bated breath, he emptied the contents out onto the table.

“Woah… Fancy,” Yuugi commented, looking over at one of the papers curiously.

“It certainly looks authentic,” Atem mumbled as he picked one up. “Not that I’d really know what the real thing looks like, but…”

He trailed off, suddenly becoming distracted; His eyes lingered on the name printed on the page.

It was… Almost kind of overwhelming somehow, seeing his name written out. Hearing his name spoken was already oddly thrilling as it was, but this was the first time it’d been written down in… No, actually, it was the _only_ written record of his name, he realized; Any physical record of his name had long since been scratched out, erased until there was no trace of it to be found anywhere, as if he’d simply never existed. Which, of course, was a good thing- That was exactly what he’d wanted to happen, because anyone who knew his name could have had the potential to release Zorc. He’d instructed Seto to purge his name from the world’s memory, and he did, but it still hadn’t made for a pleasant aftermath. There was something deeply isolating about being stripped of an identity, having your existence erased, being not even so much as a ghost in the eyes of the world at large.

Now, though… Now that was no longer the case. It was a little strange seeing his name written out in sleek, angular katakana rather than the elegant hieroglyphs he was used to, “A-te-mu” rather than “A-tm”, but all linguistic differences aside, it was still _his_ name. Right there, on paper for the world to see. His existence, his identity, was no longer dependent on the living memory of his friends; Sure, maybe the papers were fake, the “date of birth” entirely made up, but what did it matter? No one would know. One way or another, Atem Mutou was now, officially, a real, living person just like anyone else.

(Speaking of which, if he was being honest with himself, there was something exciting about seeing his name next to Yuugi’s last name. The thought of even _having_ a family name made his heart beat a little bit faster.)

“Now that you have a passport, we can finally go home,” Grandpa interrupted Atem’s thoughts with a smile of relief. “I’m going to see about booking a flight as soon as possible. Hopefully we can get one for tomorrow morning.”

“I can’t wait to go home,” Yuugi admitted. “Cairo is nice and all, but this hotel room is kinda boring… I miss our friends.”

Atem nodded in agreement. “Me too… I just hope things will go ok with- You know. When we get there.” He frowned, glancing again at the papers with an uncertain look.

Yuugi frowned slightly. “Yeah, me too… Introducing you to mom and dad is gonna be weird…”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Grandpa insisted. “I’ll be there to back you up, after all.”

Atem nodded. “Right. Guess there’s no point in worrying about it right now.”

With that, he began packing up the documents, sliding them carefully back into the envelope and resealing it with the metal closure. He sighed, and sunk back into his chair as he put the envelope down.

“We should call the Ishtars and let them know,” Yuugi said. “And mom and dad, and probably our friends, and- ...You haven’t gotten dressed yet,” he realized, turning towards Atem and frowning slightly.

Atem shrugged. “I mean, I’ve only been awake for… What, half an hour? Twenty minutes?”

“Fair enough. How about you get dressed, and I’ll call Anzu and let her know we’ll be home soon?”

“While you two do that, I’m going to head back out,” Grandpa said, standing up and stretching. “I’ll book our plane tickets, and maybe pick up something to eat. Call the Ishtars while you’re at it, alright?”

Yuugi nodded. “Right, I will. See you later.”

“Bye, boys, don’t go causing any trouble while I’m out,” Grandpa teased as he headed towards the door.

“We won’t!” Yuugi and Atem promised, in perfect sync with each other, watching as Grandpa shut the door behind him.

Atem yawned, and began digging through the bag of freshly washed laundry; Meanwhile, Yuugi picked up the phone, consulted the list of numbers on the sheet of notepad paper next to it, and dialed the number for the Ishtar siblings’ home phone.

“Hi, it’s Yuugi,” he said as the phone was answered. 

_“Good afternoon, Yuugi,”_ Rishid greeted him politely. _“Is everything alright?”_

“Oh, yeah, nothing’s wrong, don’t worry,” Yuugi quickly clarified. “I just wanted to let you all know that we got the papers from Kaiba.”

 _“Oh, good, I’m glad to hear it. I take it that means you’ll be leaving for Japan soon?”_ Rishid guessed.

Yuugi nodded- Purely out of habit, given that Rishid couldn’t see him, to Atem’s amusement. “Yeah. I’m not sure when we’re leaving yet; Grandpa just went to book our tickets, so I guess we’ll call you when we know when our flight is. Hopefully it’ll be sometime tomorrow morning.”

_“Alright. I suppose we’ll talk later, then.”_

“Yup- Oh, by the way, thanks for the muffins,” Yuugi added as an afterthought. “They were really good!”

 _“Oh, I’m glad you enjoyed them,”_ Rishid replied, and Yuugi could hear the smile in his voice. _“It was Marik’s idea. I swear, he never stops eating…”_

Yuugi heard a distant shout of indignation, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, tell him thanks, then. Talk to you later.”

_“Of course. Goodbye, Yuugi.”_

As Yuugi began dialing Anzu’s number, Atem sat down on the bed, finally dressed; Today, he’d opted for a soft, loose tank top, along with his own (horribly wrinkled, yet otherwise unharmed) shendyt; He didn’t expect to go out today, so he didn’t see any harm in dressing for comfort, though he still wore a pair of bracelets. Pleased with the feeling of wearing something comfortable for once, Atem leaned back against his elbows, swinging his feet idly as he watched Yuugi.

(“Your shirt’s inside-out,” Yuugi whispered to Atem as he waited for the phone to connect.

Atem pouted.)

_“Hello?”_

“Hey, Anzu!”

 _“Oh! Hey, Yuugi!”_ Anzu greeted him, pleasantly surprised. _“What’s up?”_

“Not much. I wanted to let you know that we got the stuff from Kaiba, so we’ll be on our way home soon,” Yuugi explained. 

_“That’s great! When are you coming back?”_

“Dunno yet,” Yuugi admitted, shrugging. “We only just got the papers a few minutes ago. Grandpa went out to try to buy plane tickets. We’re hoping to leave tomorrow morning, though, so hopefully we’ll see you this weekend,” he added.

_“That’s good. Call me when you get back, ok?”_

“Yup, I will,” Yuugi promised with a nod. “Anyway, how are you?”

 _“I’m good,”_ Anzu replied. _“I miss you guys!”_

Yuugi laughed. “We miss you too!”

_“How’s Atem, by the way? Is he doing any better?”_

“He’s-” Yuugi glanced back at Atem, who was currently sitting on the bed, fidgeting with his bracelets. “Actually, do you want to talk to him? I could put you on speaker,” he realized. (Atem seemed to perk up at this as well, glancing at Yuugi with a questioning look and a hint of excitement.)

 _“Sure, sounds good,”_ Anzu agreed.

Yuugi smiled, and gestured for Atem to come over. As Atem sat down in the chair across from Yuugi, Yuugi pressed the speakerphone button on the phone’s base.

“Ok, you’re on speaker.”

“Hi, Anzu,” Atem greeted her, leaning against the table.

Anzu’s voice came a bit staticky through the speaker, but there was still no mistaking it. _“Hey, Atem! Congratulations on officially, illegally becoming a citizen,”_ she teased.

Atem grinned, feigning comical pride. “Why, thank you! Now that my birthday has been rescheduled, I get to turn eighteen earlier. Consider the system officially cheated,” he declared.

Anzu laughed. _“What?”_

“Now that Yuugi and I are ‘twins’, my birthday is listed as June 4th,” Atem explained. “But actually, it would be… hmm… I think sometime in late July?” he guessed, tilting his head and frowning in thought. 

“Would that make me the older twin?” Yuugi wondered.

Atem shrugged. “I suppose if we’re talking in terms of existing as separate individuals, we’d both be the exact same age… But in terms of continuous consciousness, I’d be several thousand years older.”

 _“Yeah, but in terms of physically existing, you’re only like, five days old,”_ Anzu pointed out.

...Atem’s expression quickly fell to a pout.

“You know what? I don’t think it really matters which one of us is older, actually,” he decided flatly.

“Yeah, it really doesn’t,” Yuugi agreed. “I mean, we’re not really twins, anyway. It’s just easier to say we’re twins than to try to explain our… Condition to everyone we meet and also the government.”

“Emphasis on ‘the government’,” Atem added.

 _“Fair enough,”_ Anzu conceded. _“Anyway… How are you guys liking Egypt?”_

Yuugi shrugged. “It’s alright, I guess? It’s really different from Japan, I don’t really know how to judge it,” he added with a laugh.

“Everything is so different from what I’m used to,” Atem commented. “I mean, I knew it would be, but still… It’s weird. It feels like a completely different country. The pyramids are really the only thing that’s familiar to me, and even those look really different from what I remember.”

 _“Yeah, I remember you saying that,”_ Anzu recalled. _“Have you guys done anything cool, at least?”_

“Eh, not really… We’ve mostly just stayed in our hotel room,” Yuugi admitted. “We were planning on going to the museum with Bakura-kun and the Ishtars before he left, but Atem wasn’t feeling up to it, so we didn’t go.”

“Bakura said it was a good thing we didn’t go, but refused to elaborate on why,” Atem muttered, frowning slightly in suspicion.

 _“Oh yeah, speaking of which… How are you feeling, Atem? Doing any better?”_ Anzu asked, voice dropping to a more quiet, hesitant tone with the serious topic.

Atem paused for a moment before sighing.

“I’m… I don’t know. I’m slowly getting used to things, I guess, but I also haven’t been eating or sleeping nearly as much as I should, so… I don’t know. I don’t feel great.” He shook his head in disappointment. “I’ve got a lot I need to process.”

_“I’m sorry.”_

“I think you’re doing better, though!” Yuugi interrupted, trying to be optimistic. “I mean, we’ve found some more foods that you like, so that’s something. And from now on you’ll be getting more sleep, right?” he added rather pointedly.

Atem gave an expression halfway between shame and an irritated pout. “Uh-huh.”

 _“Well, I hope you feel better soon,”_ Anzu told him sincerely. _“When you two come home, if there’s anything I can do to help out, let me know!”_

Atem smiled, if only slightly. “Thank you, Anzu. I appreciate that.”

 _“You’re welcome!”_ Anzu replied. _“I should get going now, I have some homework to catch up on.”_

“Ok, bye Anzu!” Yuugi waved to the phone on instinct, as if Anzu could see him, prompting Atem to laugh.

“Good luck with your homework,” Atem added in amusement.

_“Bye! See you guys soon!”_

The phone clicked off, beeping to signal the end of the call. Yuugi replaced the phone on the base, and sighed contentedly as the room once again fell silent.

“I’m so glad we’re going home soon,” he said wistfully. “I miss our friends.”

Atem nodded in agreement. “Yeah, me too.”

Atem stole another glance at the envelope that would grant them the freedom to return to Japan; His heart still beat a little bit quicker at the sight of his name, written so casually on the envelope, as solid and real as anything.

* * *

It was almost sundown when a knock came at the door to the Mutous’ hotel room. Atem and Yugi’s heads snapped up at the sound, as Yugi held a card halfway off the table. Along with Grandpa, they exchanged questioning glances, silently trying to figure out who would be the one to answer the door; Yuugi looked to Grandpa in the hopes that he might do it, but Grandpa’s expression didn’t seem to budge, as he remained firmly engaged in his book. 

Yuugi sighed, and reluctantly placed his cards on the table before standing up to open the door. At least it was probably just Marik or Rishid, he thought.

...So naturally, the person standing on the other side of the door was neither Marik nor Rishid, nor Ishizu either.

“Oh,” Yuugi said simply, blinking in surprise. “Hi, Mai-san. What are you doing here?”

“Hey, Yuugi, it’s been a while,” Mai greeted him with a grin and a wave. “Ishizu told me you guys were here, so I wanted to come say hello!”

Yuugi stared at Mai in confusion for a moment, before suddenly remembering proper manners. “Oh, uhhh- Why don’t you come in?”

Mai followed Yuugi into the room, waving hello to Atem as she entered.

“Hello, Mai-san,” Atem greeted her politely- Though his expression also betrayed surprise.

“Hello,” Grandpa added in.

“Oh! Hello,” Mai said as she noticed Grandpa. “Sorry to intrude. I’m-”

“Mai Kujaku, right?” Grandpa interrupted with a smile.

Mai blinked in surprise. “You’ve heard of me?”

“Of course! You’re one of the top duelists in Japan! I was very impressed by your performance at both Duelist Kingdom and Battle City,” Grandpa explained, grinning. “Yuugi’s told me a lot about you, too.”

Mai beamed with pride, pleasantly surprised by this development. “Thank you! You must be Yuugi’s grandfather, right? I’ve heard a lot about you too.”

“Really?” Grandpa questioned. “Like what?”

“Mostly that you’ve got a bad habit of getting kidnapped,” Mai replied, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “Really, though, the kids seem to look up to you a lot. You should be proud.”

Now it was Grandpa’s turn to be pleasantly surprised. He smiled widely, blushing slightly.

With introductions out of the way, Mai turned her attention back towards Yuugi and Atem. The two were still staring at her in confusion, though they tried to politely mask their expressions; Mai frowned, confused by _their_ confusion in turn.

“What’s with those faces?” she aked.

Yuugi blinked, blushing as he realized that his expression wasn’t quite as polite as he’d thought. “O-Oh, nothing, it’s-”

“Oh!” Mai gasped in sudden realization. “I completely forgot to tell you guys I moved! No wonder you’re confused,” she laughed. “Sorry about that! I’m a little forgetful sometimes.”

Atem frowned slightly. “Moved… Like… To Egypt?” he questioned.

Mai nodded. “Yep! I’m a bit of a drifter, you know,” she reminded him. “Ishizu and I really hit it off at Battle City. She told me a bit about the dueling scene in Cairo, and I thought it sounded pretty interesting, so I decided to settle here for a while. Ishizu was nice enough to help me find a nice apartment.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Yuugi said. “Do you like it here?”

“I’d say so! Dunno how long I’ll be staying, but I’m having fun while I’m here,” Mai answered with a nod. “Enough about me, though. How are you two?”

“We’re alright,” Atem replied politely.

Mai glanced at Atem, and then stared at him for a moment, almost as if she hadn’t quite entirely noticed him before; Atem fidgeted nervously, but did his best to relax, giving Mai an awkward, sheepish smile.

“I guess this whole thing must be a bit of a shock, huh,” he muttered with a slight nervous laugh. “I-”

“Oh no, it’s not that,” Mai interrupted him calmly.

“Oh.” Atem frowned in confusion. “Then… What are you staring at me like that for?”

Mai paused for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

“...Atem. I’m going to ask you a question, and I promise it’s a sincere one- I’m not judging you, or being sarcastic, alright?”

Now Atem was _definitely_ nervous. “Um, alright?”

Mai gave him a sympathetic look, and asked in a gentle, almost motherly tone: “Do you… know how to iron a pleated skirt?”

Atem blushed bright red.

“Is it that bad..?” he wondered, biting his lip and fidgeting with the hem of his (extremely wrinkled) shendyt.

Mai gave him an apologetic look and a quiet nod. (Yuugi and Grandpa, meanwhile, tried- and failed- to hide their snickering.)

“Like I said, I’m not judging you,” Mai repeated. “A lot of guys don’t know how to do laundry properly- Hell, so do a lot of ladies. But if you’re going to wear stuff like that outside the house, you should really learn to take proper care of your clothes. I can show you how to do it, if you like,” she added, smiling reassuringly.

Atem looked away, wrapping an arm around his chest and biting his lip. “It’s- It’s fine. Yuugi and Grandpa said I probably shouldn’t wear it in public anyway.”

Mai frowned worriedly, but said no more on the subject.

“Alright, well anyway… There’s one more reason why I came by,” she began.

“What’s that?” Yuugi asked.

“Today is your last day in Cairo, right?” she guessed. “Why don’t you come over for dinner? There’s something I think you guys would get a kick out of seeing.”

Yuugi tilted his head curiously. “Hmm? What do you mean?”

“You’ll see,” Mai replied, with a mysterious smile. “Come over to my place, say… Oh… Around 8:00,” she decided. “Here, I’ll write down my address. Don’t worry, it’s not far.”

Atem watched as Mai reached carefully over the cards on the table to pick up the notepad and pen. She wrote down an address, and then put the notepad back down.

“Dinner, huh?” Atem muttered, frowning slightly with worry.

Mai glanced at him with a thoughtful look. “Well, it doesn’t have to be _dinner,_ really,” she decided after a moment, waving her hand dismissively. “We could just hang out, have some tea, whatever you like. Just come by tonight if you’re up to it, I’ve got something to show you. Of course, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she added.

“I’m kinda curious now,” Yuugi admitted. “What do you think, Atem?”

Atem simply shrugged.

“...We’ll see,” Yuugi told Mai, shrugging as well.

“Alright. No pressure,” Mai assured them with a smile. “Still, though, I really think you two would want to see this, and I’d love to hang out before you leave too.”

“What is it that you want to show us?” Atem asked.

Mai grinned. “It’s a surprise! You have to come visit me if you want to find out!” she insisted, an almost mischievous tone to her voice.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Alright…”

Mai was quiet for a moment, simply watching them with a thoughtful expression. Eventually, she stood up, yawning and stretching out.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it, then. Don’t want to interrupt your duel, after all,” she said with a laugh. “I hope I see you later, but if not, have a safe trip home, alright?”

“Thank you,” Atem and Yuugi replied in unison.

“Bye, Mai-san! See you later, maybe,” Yuugi added, as he stood up to close the door behind her.

Mai nodded. “Yep, see you around! Take care!”

“You too!”

The door creaked as Yuugi shut and locked it. He yawned, and sat back down across from Atem.

“Well, that was a nice surprise,” he commented, picking up his hand of cards once more. “I didn’t expect to see Mai-san here!”

Atem nodded and gave a thoughtful hum. “I wonder what it is she wants to show us…”

“Dunno,” Yuugi replied, shrugging. “What do you think, should we take her up on her invitation? How do you feel about going out later?”

“I… Don’t know, to be honest,” Atem admitted. “My body says no, my mind says I need to know what she wants to show us or I’ll die.”

Yuugi laughed. “Yeah, I get that.”

“Well, you’ve got some time to decide,” Grandpa reminded them, gesturing towards the clock. “It’s only about 7:00 now.”

“That’s true,” Yuugi agreed with a nod. “I guess let’s finish this duel, and then we can decide.”

“Works for me,” Atem decided, and turned his attention back towards the table, a quiet spark in his eye that Yuugi only ever saw when he was dueling. “Your move!”

* * *

Not long thereafter, Yuugi and Atem began making their way to the address Mai had written down on the notepad. This primarily involved holding hands and staying as close to each other as possible, walking _very_ quickly, avoiding eye contact with anyone as much as possible, jumping every time a car went by, and really wishing Marik were there to help them out. And, of course, checking and double-checking the map frequently, while also trying not to stop walking for fear of attracting unwanted attention, which meant they had to do a lot of turning around and walking the other way after realizing they’d gone in the wrong direction.

By the time they finally made it to Mai’s apartment, it was well after 8:00, and both boys were red-faced and sweaty and rather worn out.

Mai smiled as she opened the door. “Hey, come on- Woah, are you ok? You kids look like you just ran a marathon,” she blurted as she took a good look at her guests, eyes widening in surprise. 

“We’re fine,” Atem groaned.

“I don’t like walking through Cairo,” Yuugi gasped, still trying to catch his breath. “It’s like downtown Domino, except people try to talk to you and cars don’t drive in a straight line.”

Mai laughed. “Yeah, sounds about right. Come on in,” she said, holding the door open.

Mai’s apartment was small, yet comfortable, and smelled like dinner. Despite the Egyptian architecture, little things here and there made it a distinctly Japanese home- A bamboo wood shoe rack by the door, a small family shrine by one of the walls. A painting reminiscent of comic books hung over the couch, and a cabinet in the dining room held a number of trophies from tournaments. The furniture looked soft and comfortable, with a number of pillows on both the couch and the floor. (Atem noted, with interest and some amount of amusement, a PlayStation and a PC-FX on a shelf underneath the TV.)

“Go ahead and make yourselves at home,” Mai said as she led them inside. “I just made yakiniku, you’re welcome to have some if you like! Otherwise, I’ve got plenty of snacks, tea, whatever.” She shrugged. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Um… Just tea sounds nice, thanks,” Atem replied with a light shrug.

“I wouldn’t mind some yakiniku,” Yuugi decided. “Thanks!”

Mai grinned as she grabbed a plate from the cabinet. “Sure thing!”

Within a few minutes, both the tea and the food were ready. Mai opened a sliding door leading out onto a balcony, and gestured for Yuugi and Atem to follow. She placed the tray of food and drinks onto a small table. 

“Just let me grab an extra chair,” she said, as Yuugi and Atem sat down on the balcony. She hurried inside, and came back a moment later with a chair from the kitchen.

“You have a really nice apartment, Mai-san,” Yuugi commented as he began eating. “This view is really nice.”

Atem glanced over the railing and out at the Cairo skyline; It wasn’t a perfect view, but he could still see the pyramids not too far away, just slightly obscured by a few buildings. The last light of the evening gradually faded behind them. 

Mai smiled. “Yeah, it’s great, isn’t it? I really owe it to Ishizu for helping me find this place. I may have a bad case of wanderlust, but honestly, if I didn’t I could totally see myself settling down here,” she admitted, a slightly wistful look on her face as she gazed out at the plateau. “But enough about my apartment. How have you two been?” she asked. “I heard the general situation from the Ishtars… Talk about a plot twist, am I right?”

Yuugi laughed. “Yeah, it’s… Been kind of a weird change to get used to,” he admitted. “We had to stay a few extra days after everyone else went home, since Atem didn’t have any legal documents, so he wouldn’t have been able to travel. We had to convince Kaiba to forge some, and then mail them to us.”

“We just got them today,” Atem added. “It’s… Kind of weird to think about as a concept, really. Technically, we’re committing fraud- But at the same time, it’s… Not like it’s a lie to say that I exist and all that, so…” He shrugged, frowning in confusion.

Mai laughed, watching him as she sat backwards in her chair. “Yeah, when you put it that way… I’m getting a headache just thinking about it.”

“It’s not a big deal, though,” Yuugi assured them both. “At least now that we have the documents- Even if they’re fake- We can finally go home.”

“What, tired of Egypt already?” Mai teased, sticking her tongue out at Yuugi.

Yuugi shook his head with wide eyes. “Oh, no, no, not at all! Nothing like that!” he insisted. “It’s just that I still have school, and Atem’s tired, so it’s kind of stressful to-”

“I know, I know. Relax, Yuugi, I’m only teasing you,” Mai laughed. “I get it. I wouldn’t want to be cooped up in a hotel room if I were you, either. And I know you two must miss the rest of Team Yuugi.”

“Yeah, we do miss our friends,” Yuugi admitted.

“It’s been too quiet since Bakura left,” Atem added with a sigh. 

“How are you doing by the way, Atem?” Mai asked. “I know the boys seemed worried about how you were adjusting… Oh, I mean- You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, I don’t mean to pry,” she added hastily.

Atem shook his head. “No, it’s ok. I don’t mind. I’m…” 

He trailed off for a moment, sighing; He stared out at the pyramids wistfully as he thought about what to say, not even sure where to begin after everything that had happened.

“...It’s a lot to get used to,” he finally admitted. “Even though I did borrow Yugi’s body plenty of times, it was never for very long, and it didn’t feel the same as having a body of my own. Hell, even in all the time I spent with Yugi, I only ever ate something once,” he recalled. “So everything is new and strange to me. All the little things people take for granted, all the things people get used to to the point of tuning it out, like breathing or the way clothes feel… I’m not used to it at all. I _can’t_ tune it out. So it’s really overwhelming,” he explained with a sigh.

Mai gave him a sympathetic frown. “That makes sense. That must be tough… Sorry you have to deal with that.”

“Mm. On top of that, now that I’ve got my memories back, there’s that to deal with,” Atem muttered, scowling slightly.

“Oh yeah…. I will admit I am kinda curious about what the hell happened, considering everything that happened during Battle City,” Mai said. “But hey, it’s your business, not mine. I’m just glad you two are alright.”

“I mean, I can tell you if you want,” Atem replied, shrugging. “It’s not really a secret or anything…”

Mai said nothing, but raised an eyebrow, waiting for Atem to continue. Atem sighed, and took another sip of his tea.

“...To make a long, _long_ story short… My dad died, my uncle got possessed, a bunch of my friends died, I committed suicide to seal away a chaos god, Bakura was there. That’s about it.”

Mai blinked, stunned, completely at a loss for words. After a moment, she gave a simple, quiet _“Oh.”_

“Yeah.”

“Fun times!” Mai commented with awkward, sarcastic cheer. 

Atem gave a snort of bitter amusement. “Yeah.”

“You know, come to think of it… None of this really explains anything about Battle City,” Yuugi realized, frowning thoughtfully.

“It sure doesn’t,” Mai agreed. “But I guess life is strange like that. Still, you two have some pretty shitty- ...Wait, hold on, I’m confused, Yuugi where do you come in in all of this?” she wondered, brow furrowed in confusion. “Ishizu said something about you two being the same person? How does _that_ work?”

“Oh, right! It’s like, um, we used to be the same person, but now we’re not,” Yuugi replied cheerfully.

Mai’s look of confusion deepened. “Uh, come again?”

“Basically, Yuugi and I didn’t originally exist as you see us now. We used to be a single, regular person,” Atem explained. “That was part of the, uh… The suicide thing. I- Or rather, _we-_ Had to split our soul in two in order to seal away Zorc. Half of it, aka me, got sealed into the Millennium Puzzle, along with Zorc and all our memories. The other half, uh… Went off and got reincarnated, I guess,” he finished almost a little bit confusedly, shrugging.

“That’s me,” Yuugi added for clarification.

Mai stared thoughtfully at Yuugi and Atem for a moment, glancing back and forth between them with a concerned frown. “Well, that… Certainly makes sense, knowing you two, but that’s… Um… That’s- Are you- D- …You know what, I’ll be right back,” she decided with a deep, nervous breath, and hurried inside.

Yuugi and Atem exchanged confused, worried glances.

“Do you think we weirded her out..?” Yuugi wondered quietly, biting his lip. 

Atem had no answer to give, only a simple shrug. He glanced out at the horizon anxiously, a number of thoughts nagging at the back of his mind as he contemplated the nighttime view. 

It wasn’t long until Mai returned, carrying a small, shallow red box. 

“Here,” she said, holding the box out to Yuugi and Atem. 

Yuugi took the box, glancing at it curiously. “...Pocky..?”

“Yeah,” Mai confirmed with a nod. “It’s a real pain in the ass to get around here, so I was planning on saving it for a special occasion, but… I think you two deserve it more than I do,” she said with a smile- Gentle, reassuring, yet tinged with concern that bordered on horror.

Yuugi blinked in surprise. “O-Oh, are you sure? I mean-“

“We _are_ going back to Japan tomorrow, anyway,” Atem finished for Yuugi, raising an eyebrow.

Mai shook her head. “It’s yours. But on one condition,” she added ominously, holding up one finger.

“What is it?”

“When you two get back to Japan… Mail me some mochi,” she requested with a slight sigh. “I can’t find even one box anywhere! It’s been driving me crazy!”

Yuugi laughed. “Sure, we’ll send you some. Any particular flavor you’d like?”

“Red bean’s my favorite, but I’m not picky,” Mai answered, and smiled as she sat back down. “Thanks, you two.”

“Well, thank you for the pocky,” Yuugi replied. “Atem, do you want some?”

Atem paused slightly before answering, debating with himself how tolerable the snack sounded. After a moment, he nodded. “Yes, please.”

Yuugi smiled, and held out the box of pocky for Atem to pick from.

“Oh yeah, so… What was it that you wanted to show us?” Atem asked, as he stuck one of the thin cookie sticks into his mouth, letting it snap easily against his teeth. (It was pretty good, he thought; The sheer volume of the crunching was a bit jarring to his ears, but the texture wasn’t bad, and the sweet chocolate was _very_ nice indeed. He soon found himself reaching for another piece.)

“Oh, you’ll see,” Mai said, with a mysterious smile. She glanced briefly at her watch, and hid a quiet giggle behind her hand.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Um, ok then…”

“That’s kind of ominous,” Yuugi commented with a frown.

Mai laughed. “Don’t worry about it,” she told him with a dismissive handwave. “Check out the pyramids over there, though! Pretty neat how they light ‘em up like that, huh?”

Atem nodded as he glanced towards the plateau. “Yeah, it looks pretty- What is _that?!”_ Atem gasped in surprise as the lights abruptly shifted, with a loud noise.

 _“This,_ boys and girls,” Mai began, grinning and gesturing dramatically towards the view, “Is the Giza Sound and Light Show.”

Atem blinked, face contorting in confusion. “What… What? I- That’s- Is this normal?!” he blurted out.

Mai nodded. “Yep. They do it every night,” she answered. “It was pretty annoying when I first moved in, but… Eh, you get used to it after a while.”

Atem paused, still with that same look of utter bafflement.

“...Do… Do they know those are tombs?” he asked hesitantly. 

Mai laughed. “Oh yeah. They know.”

Atem and Yuugi stared with open-mouthed disbelief, leaning over the railing to try to get a better view. Scenes of Egyptian history flashed across the pyramids and the face of the Sphinx; In the distance, a voice could be heard narrating the program, with an accent almost as outrageously cheesy as his dialogue. 

“Did… He just pronounce ‘Giza’ as ‘Gih-zay’?” Yuugi questioned, raising an eyebrow and leaning out over the railing slightly, tilting his head to listen.

“I think he did,” Atem realized. 

“Is this what you wanted to show us, Mai-san?” Yuugi wondered, glancing briefly back at Mai. 

Mai nodded cheerfully. “Yeah! I thought you guys might get a kick out of this. And since it’s your last day, what better way to end a trip to Cairo, am I right?”

Atem laughed. “It’s definitely… Something,” he commented in amusement, raising an eyebrow at the display. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, thanks for having us over!” Yuugi added with a smile. 

Mai grinned. “No problem! I’m glad we got to catch up. I feel like my life’s almost gotten a bit boring, with the lack of supernatural weirdness lately,” she laughed.

“Mm, I get that. It’s nice to not have to worry about anyone getting hurt sometimes, though,” Yuugi pointed out. 

Mai paused for a minute, glancing thoughtfully at Yuugi and Atem. Watching the way Yuugi cheerfully munched on his pocky, and the way Atem swung his too-short-for-his-chair legs back and forth while he watched the pyramids, all traces of his stern dueling persona gone as he tried (and failed) to hide his amusement.

Mai sighed, and leant against the table, resting her chin against one elbow. 

“Yeah, it is,” she said quietly, with a knowing smile.

* * *

Yuugi and Atem stayed at Mai’s apartment for a while, laughing and talking about everything from the latest Duel Monsters news to video games to Cairo traffic. After a few hours, though, the boys’ eyes began to droop, and- Despite their protests- They were firmly shooed out the door with a stern look and a promise that if they didn’t go to bed on time, Mai would take advantage of their sleep deprivation and steal their titles out from under them.

(Yuugi wondered if Mai was aware of just how much she acted like a doting older sister. Knowing her pride, he chose not to comment on it, and simply thanked her for her hospitality.)

Atem slept through the night for the first time that night. It wasn’t the most sound sleep ever, frequently interrupted by nightmares or hunger, but the light left on in the corner calmed his fears; For as many times as he woke up, he just as soon fell back asleep. What little sleep he got was _so_ much better than the next-to-nothing he’d been getting, and it showed. 

The drive to the airport was… Slightly less unpleasant, now that everyone knew what to expect- But “slightly” wasn’t much, and Yuugi still wound up shaking like a snowglobe for a good fifteen minutes or so after getting out of the taxi. The airport, too, was still just as chaotic as it had been the first time.

Atem tried to tolerate it, he really did. He tried so hard to just walk calmly through the airport like anyone else, but the crowds were downright claustrophobic, and there were _so many_ sounds happening all at once: People talking _(so many_ people talking all at once in so many languages, shouting and squealing and talking far too loudly into their phones), suitcases with rusty wheels squeaking like knives on a chalkboard, planes rumbling, announcements blaring over the loudspeaker like a train horn in his ear. His sandals hurt his feet, and the air conditioning was too cold but the sunlight was too hot, and the inside of his head pounded and pulsated angrily with every step he took.

By the time they made it to the check-in line, Atem was sweaty and teary-eyed. He pressed his fingers into his ears, trying to be as subtle about it as possible. He jumped as he felt something touch his shoulder- But soon realized it was only Yuugi.

“I’m sorry about the noise,” Yuugi told him, biting his lip and rubbing Atem’s shoulder gently. “At least it should be better once we get on the plane.”

Atem sighed, and leaned into the touch. He said nothing; He’d barely understood a word Yuugi had said, anyway, his inexperienced brain struggling to sort through the dozens upon dozens of sounds and words coming from every direction.

He missed when he and Yuugi could communicate by thoughts and feelings alone. At least Yuugi’s expression and body language made his intentions pretty clear.

Nevertheless, Atem carried on. He followed Yuugi and Grandpa through the airport; Through check-in, through security, through the bag check, through the line to get breakfast at the cafe. For the sake of sheer survival, he wound up not paying attention to anything other than the location of his family until they finally sat down to eat. It was only then that he noticed that the Ishtars had joined them- Though he did vaguely recall saying hello, evidently out of habit, or… Something. His mouth knew the hello-words, but his mind had been miles away, trying its best to retreat from the situation.

He blinked in confusion as he noticed that a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee had somehow found their way to the table directly in front of him.

“...I don’t like this airport,” he sighed.

Marik gave him a sympathetic look. “Are you ok? You’ve been weirdly quiet all morning…”

“Yeah, I’m-” Atem paused, realizing that “Not sure I’ve been fully conscious for the past hour” was probably not a great way to reassure his friends. “...I’m just… A bit overwhelmed. I’ll be fine.”

“It won’t be so bad once we get on the plane,” Yuugi assured him for the second time that day. (At least, the second to Atem’s knowledge.)

Atem sighed, and took a sip of his coffee. His face scrunched up at the taste, still bitter despite the extra sweetness; At least the bitterness, though, gave him something he could focus on. The bitterness was distinct, identifiable, easy to pick out against the blurred chaos of the airport. 

And so, time passed. Atem sipped his coffee and picked at his cereal, occasionally contributing to conversation but mostly staying quiet. Eventually, it came for the Ishtars to leave- Ishizu had to go to work- Which meant it was time to say their goodbyes.

“Thank you for everything,” Yuugi said, bowing deeply to Ishizu and the others; Atem soon mimicked him, bowing just as sincerely. “You’ve done so much for us. It really means a lot.”

Ishizu smiled. “Think nothing of it. It’s the least we can do to thank you for everything you did for us, too. You two saved our family,” she finished quietly, and bowed in return.

“Well, then I guess we’re even,” Yuugi said with a laugh.

“Perhaps. Still, I’ll always be grateful for what you did,” Ishizu insisted. “And if you ever need anything, you can always feel free to call.”

Atem frowned worriedly. “Ishizu-san… You know you really don’t owe us anything, right?”

“Maybe not, but helping each other is what friends do, isn’t it?” Marik interrupted.

Atem blinked, surprised by this answer. After a moment, he nodded, and gave a small smile.

“Of course. You’re right. Thanks, Marik,” he replied sincerely. 

“Man, I’m really going to miss you guys,” Marik said, with a slight disappointed pout. “You’ll keep in touch, won’t you?”

Yuugi nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! We’re going to miss you too,” he added. “I had a lot of fun hanging out with you.”

Marik beamed, seemingly quite pleased with this statement. (He gave such a bright, innocent smile that even Yuugi found it almost hard to believe that the boy had ever been the leader of a ruthless criminal network; Seeing just how far Marik had come in the short time they’d known each other brought a smile to Yuugi’s face, too.)

“Hug?” Yuugi suggested.

“Sure!” Marik answered with a grin, and soon wrapped his arms around Yuugi in a friendly embrace. 

As Yuugi and Marik hugged, the adults watched with fond expressions.

Rishid took a deep breath. “You three… Take care, alright?” he said hesitantly.

Ishizu glanced at Rishid with a slight concerned frown. ”Rishid, are you crying?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

Rishid pursed his lips and wiped his eye. “I-I’m just… Glad everything turned out alright in the end,” he muttered, sniffling slightly. 

Ishizu gave Rishid a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder.

“Do you want a hug too, Rishid-san?” Yuugi asked, tilting his head gently.

“I would love a hug,” Rishid admitted.

Yuugi grinned, and ran to give Rishid his hug; Rishid had to bend over slightly to reach his much smaller young friend, but it was worth it, and his hug was one of the most enthusiastic Yuugi had ever received. (Which was saying something, knowing Jounouchi.)

Marik smiled as he watched the two of them, and then turned his attention towards Atem. “How about you, Atem? You want in on the hugs?”

Atem blinked, surprised by this question. “Um…”

…He didn’t know how to answer, if he was being honest. Part of him always wanted a hug, really, but at the same time… He’d been so deprived of human contact for so long that in many ways, when it was coming from anyone other than Yuugi, he found it confusing and strange, unfamiliar to the point of being almost scary. Even on the few occasions when he’d hugged Grandpa, it’d been stiff and clumsy, as he didn’t really know _how_ he was supposed to hug someone properly. Right now, given that he was already on edge and overstimulated, he didn’t know how well he’d be able to handle an unfamiliar hug.

Marik seemed to sense Atem’s hesitation, and gave him an understanding look. “It’s ok, you don’t have to,” he promised. “How about a fistbump instead?”

Atem nodded- That, he _definitely_ knew how to do. He mirrored Marik’s outstretched fist with a smile.

“See you guys around, then,” Marik said, as Rishid finally (reluctantly) stopped crushing Yuugi.

“Mm-hmm. See you, thanks for everything,” Atem said, waving a friendly goodbye.

“Goodbye, good luck with everything,” Ishizu replied. “Have a safe flight home!”

“Goodbye, safe travels,” Rishid added.

Grandpa waved and gave a slight polite bow. “Have a good day, you three. Thank you for all your help.”

“It was our pleasure,” Ishizu assured him, smiling gently. 

“Bye, Marik! Bye, Ishizu-san! Bye, Rishid-san!” Yuugi called, waving enthusiastically as they turned to leave.

“Bye, Yuugi!” the group responded in chorus, and soon they were off.

Yuugi watched them walk away for a few seconds, a thoughtful look on his face.

“I’m going to miss them,” he said after a moment. “It was nice hanging out with Marik.”

Atem’s only response was a quiet hum, though he shared Yuugi’s sentiment. 

Now that the Ishtars had left, Yuugi, Atem, and Grandpa were once again on their own in the airport. The coffee seemed to have helped Atem a little bit, but not by too much; He still felt overwhelmed by the roar of the crowd, the bright lights and constant motion, the excessive air conditioning, and the different smells mingling in the air. He found it hard to focus on anything, with his poor brain being pulled in every direction and never given half a second’s rest; Distantly, he wondered how much time was left until their flight. 

Grandpa seemed to read his mind, as he glanced at his watch. “Let’s see… We’ve got twenty-five minutes until boarding time,” he announced. “I’m going to take a look in the gift shop and see if I can find a book to read on the plane. Let me know if either of you see something you’d like- Nothing too expensive, though, alright?” he added.

Yuugi nodded. “Ok.”

Atem sighed as he followed his family into the small gift shop area, mindlessly letting Yuugi pull him along. He glanced idly around at the merchandise; He caught a glimpse of a few mildly interesting things here and there, things with bright colors or books with interesting titles, or depictions of familiar characters. Still, if anyone were to ask him what he wanted, he wouldn’t have an answer- All he _really_ wanted was to get out of the airport. 

Yuugi, meanwhile, took in everything with interest, wondering if there was something that might make the flight to Japan more interesting. His gaze lingered on the snacks for a while, before moving to comic books- Mostly written in Arabic, it seemed- And then, inevitably, to the stuffed toys. 

It wasn’t like he really planned on buying any of them (They were almost certainly overpriced, anyway), but… They were just so darn _cute,_ of course he couldn’t help looking at them! Sweet, squishy little friends with brightly colored bodies of fleece or fake fur, shiny bead eyes, the tiniest little thread noses accenting gentle smiles… Part of him recognized that it was probably not exactly cool for a teenage guy to enjoy stuffed animals so much, but that part was small compared to the part of him that wondered how anyone could see a teddy bear and _not_ instantly be overwhelmed with emotion. 

He blinked, shaking his head to clear it of such thoughts. No. He had to look away. He had no reason to buy a stuffed animal; They had already spent enough money on this trip. He had to turn his attention to something else, for his own good. 

“Um, hey, Atem… Do you want anything?” he asked, if only for the sake of giving himself a distraction.

Atem didn’t respond, fiddling idly with the hem of his shirt, standing with closed eyes and a tense expression.

Yuugi frowned, and tugged gently on Atem’s hand. “Atem?”

Atem blinked his eyes open. “What?”

“Is there anything you want to buy?” Yuugi asked, repeating his question more clearly. 

“Oh… Um…” 

Atem fidgeted awkwardly, glancing around the room. He took in everything only at a surface level, seeing things but not fully registering what they were or why it mattered to him; If there was something he wanted, he didn’t know, because he couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought about anything in the room. 

“...I-I don’t know,” he admitted after a minute. “Sorry.”

Yuugi gave a slight worried frown, but smiled soon after. “That’s ok, I was just checking,” he assured him. 

Atem nodded, and closed his eyes once again.

Yuugi bit his lip in concern at Atem’s behavior. He knew, though, that there was little he could do; Atem was simply overwhelmed, and the only thing that could really fix that would be to go somewhere less noisy and chaotic.

Yuugi sighed, and rubbed the back of Atem’s hand with his thumb, hoping he could at least provide a little bit of comfort.

As Yuugi worried quietly about his other half, he found his attention once again wandering towards the stuffed animals. He noted some familiar characters: Hello Kitty, Pikachu, Winnie the Pooh, and- Yuugi gasped as his eyes fell upon something _very_ familiar indeed. 

Sitting innocently among a pile of other dolls was a soft, round, furry brown Kuriboh, with embroidered eyes and lumpy pleather claws. Its size and softness made it look distinctly huggable, and it seemed to stare directly at Yuugi, beckoning him closer; Suddenly, an idea occurred to Yuugi, as if placed there by fate.

“Hey, Grandpa,” Yuugi whispered, tapping his grandfather on the shoulder.

Grandpa glanced back at Yuugi as he waited in line. “Hmm?”

Yuugi nodded subtly towards the stuffed animals. “See that Kuriboh plushie?” he said, keeping his voice low to avoid attracting Atem’s attention. 

“Oh, isn’t that cute!” Grandpa replied cheerfully. “Very nice.”

“I want to get it for Atem,” Yuugi said quietly. “That is- I know it’s not like it’ll keep him from getting bored on the plane, and I understand if it’s too expensive, but… Well, you know he’s been having a hard time with the airport, and Kuriboh is one of his favorite monsters. I think it would be a nice present, to cheer him up a bit- And having something soft like that to hold on to might be helpful for him,” he explained.

Grandpa thought about this for a moment, glancing from the Kuriboh to Atem. He raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Atem; The boy did appear rather thoroughly… Checked out, as it were, and he could definitely see what Yuugi meant about having something to hold, given the way Atem twisted the bottom of his shirt in his hand over and over again.

“...Alright, go get it,” Grandpa whispered, nodding in confirmation.

Yuugi beamed an angelic smile, and hurried over to the bin. He didn’t let go of Atem’s hand, and he glanced nervously back at him while trying to look casual. Atem didn’t seem to notice, though- Although he did open his eyes when Yuugi started moving, he kept his gaze low, shuffling along next to Yuugi and staring at the floor.

Yuugi carefully hid the plush behind his back- Blushing as he caught a glimpse of the price tag- And carefully led Atem back over to the checkout line.

After Grandpa paid for their (unexpectedly expensive, but it was worth it, Yuugi reminded himself) purchase, the three began making their way over to the boarding area. 

Atem sighed as they sat down, grateful for some rest. The boarding area was slightly less crowded than the rest of the airport, and thus more quiet; He leaned forwards in his seat, resting his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees, taking a deep breath and trying (ironically enough) to ground himself.

He glanced up as he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

“Mm?”

Yuugi watched Atem with a wide smile, and an odd twinkle in his eye; Atem noted he seemed to be hiding something behind his back. “Hey, guess what?”

“What?” Atem replied in a tired monotone.

Yuugi’s grin widened, and he whipped his arm forwards, holding up what appeared to be a stuffed Kuriboh. 

“Ta-dah!” he exclaimed, with a proud smile.

Atem stared at the Kuriboh with a blank expression for a moment, confused. “What’s this?” he wondered.

“It’s a present for you!” Yuugi replied cheerfully.

“For me..?” Atem repeated, blinking in surprise.

Yuugi nodded enthusiastically. “Mhmm! For you!” he confirmed, and held the toy out towards Atem.

“Oh...” Atem whispered.

He hesitated slightly as he reached for the Kuriboh, taking it gently from Yuugi’s hands. He was immediately struck by how soft it was; He ran a hand over it slowly, feeling the downy texture of the faux fur material. It seemed nice to hold, too, neither too soft nor too firm.

“Do you like it?” Yuugi asked.

Atem nodded, and gave the Kuriboh a gentle squeeze, letting out a contented sigh at the feeling. “I love it,” he replied, and he meant it. “Thank you, Aibou.”

Yuugi grinned, and wrapped an arm around Atem’s shoulders. “I’m really glad you like it! You should thank Grandpa too, though,” he added in a whisper.

Atem blushed slightly as he realized his oversight. He nodded, and turned to face his grandfather. 

“Thank you, Grandpa,” he said with a polite inclination of the head.

Grandpa smiled warmly. “You’re welcome, dear. I’m glad you-”

Whatever else Grandpa said, Atem didn’t hear, as it was drowned out by the blaring of an announcement over the loudspeaker. He almost dropped his Kuriboh in his haste to cover his eyes, squeezing his eyes shut as if this would somehow shut out the noise; He once again felt someone touch his shoulder, and hesitantly opened his eyes.

“Time to go,” Yuugi told him, though he could barely hear him over the noise.

Atem held Yuugi’s hand in his left hand and Kuriboh under his right arm, taking a deep, nervous breath as they began making their way towards the boarding line.

* * *

Just as Yuugi had said, the plane was much more tolerable than the airport. Although there were still plenty of people who didn’t seem to know the meaning of volume control when it came to their conversations, there were fewer people overall, and the acoustics of the plane’s interior were much softer and lacking in the piercing quality of the airport. The seats, while not the comfiest in the world, were still decent enough; Atem took the window seat, watching thoughtfully as the plane began to take off. 

There was something poignant, almost scary about leaving Egypt for the first time since fully regaining his memories. Atem couldn’t help but feel apprehensive and a little bit sad as he watched Cairo grow more distant below them; He wondered how long it would be until he’d see his homeland again. Of course, in many ways, he never truly would- The Egypt of 1997 was wildly different from the Egypt of 1003 B.C., almost to the point of being unrecognizable. The Egypt he knew was long gone. 

Then again, Atem himself had changed, too. He wasn’t the same person he’d been back then, and he honestly didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Not only was he leaving Egypt, but soon they’d be in Japan, which… Presented its own set of mixed emotions. On one hand, he’d come to think of Domino City as being “home” as well- Certainly moreso than Cairo, so strikingly different as it was from his hometown of ancient Tanis. He was very much happy to be going somewhere familiar and comfortable, and he’d be seeing his friends, too. On the other hand, however… Going home to Domino City meant having to hope that he’d even be allowed to call it his home at all, as he’d have to introduce himself to Yuugi’s parents.

He’d always found it odd, really, that Yuugi’s parents had never noticed his presence. Never once had they questioned why Yuugi sometimes looked a little different, carried himself higher, spoke with a different voice and pronouns; Granted, he’d only spoken to them a few times, and never for more than a minute or two (he didn’t generally come out unless he was dueling, or going out to… Ahem… Play some games), but it still struck him as a little strange. Still, he was had honestly been grateful for it; He’d kind of known, deep down, that sooner or later he would have to admit that he existed, but he’d been quite content to avoid that for as long as possible. As far as Yuugi’s parents were concerned, he was their son, and he had no objections to this. After all, he’d believed them to be his parents for as long as he’d believed himself to be Yuugi, and part of him wanted to keep believing that. 

Now, though, there was no more playing pretend. He had no choice but to come clean about his existence. He had to force Yuugi’s parents- And himself- To confront the fact that he _wasn’t_ their son, not really anyway. He should have been, but fate had never been kind enough for that, and now it was up to them to choose if they wanted to accept him or not. They had that right.

Truth be told, he was terrified. 

He tried to remind himself of what Bakura had said, that worrying too much and focusing on the negative would be his downfall, but it was hard not to focus on the negative. Sure, maybe there was a chance that Yuugi’s parents would welcome him with open arms- But there was also a chance that they wouldn’t. After all, what would any reasonable person do if a stranger showed up at their house, claiming to be their long-lost son (who they knew for a fact they definitely, physically did not have), and informing them that he already had documents forged to illegally adopt himself into their family? The sensible answer, Atem assumed, was “call the police”, which was slightly nauseating to think about.

He didn’t know what he would do, if Yuugi’s parents were to reject him. Physically, yes, he knew that Bakura had offered to let him live with him, but emotionally? He didn’t know if he could handle that. He didn’t know if Yuugi would be able to handle living without him, either. What if Yuugi’s parents were to reject Atem, and then Yuugi would get angry at them and run away so he could be with Atem, and Atem would thereby single-handedly tear apart the entire Mutou family? What if? What if Yuugi’s parents were to reject Atem, and he would go to Bakura’s apartment, but the two of them wouldn’t be able to fully reconcile their past conflict, and Atem would have to leave for both of their sakes, and then he’d be out on his own with nowhere to go and no family and nothing to his name other than some clothes, a stuffed doll, and a deck of trading cards? What if? What if?

Yuugi seemed to notice Atem’s pensiveness, and turned towards him with a curious look.

“What are you thinking about?” Yuugi asked.

Atem paused, hesitant to answer; He wasn’t entirely sure what to say, really. Spilling all his anxieties would probably do no good for either of them.

“...I’m worried about what’s going to happen when we get home,” he admitted after a few seconds. “I know nothing’s set in stone, and Bakura said I worry too much, but… Somehow, I can only seem to think about the negatives,” he sighed. “I just keep imagining every way things could go wrong. Everything that could happen afterwards.”

Yuugi frowned, and put a hand on Atem’s knee comfortingly. “Hey, it’ll be alright. I trust mom and dad. And Grandpa will be there to back us up, too,” he reminded him. “Things will turn out fine, you’ll see! I bet mom and dad will love you from the minute they see you,” he said with a wide grin.

Atem took a deep breath, smiling ever-so-slightly, as he always found himself doing when faced with Yuugi’s optimism. “I really hope you’re right.”

Yuugi smiled again, and reached over to put his arm around Atem’s shoulders. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, so just try to relax, ok? As long as we have each other, things will be fine.”

Atem sighed as he leaned against Yuugi, resting his head on Yuugi’s shoulder.

“Thank you, Aibou.”

* * *

Several hours later, Atem awoke with a jolt. A feeling of intense fear lingered in his mind, carried over from his dreams, but was soon replaced with the feeling of an empty stomach and a very sore neck.

“Nnh… How much longer..?” he slurred, slowly sitting up and wincing as his neck moved. He noted that his arms were still very firmly wrapped around his Kuriboh.

“About six hours,” Yuugi answered, and held a bag of potato chips towards Atem. “Want some chips?”

Atem yawned, and wordlessly reached into the bag. He wasn’t sure how much he wanted- Or even liked- Potato chips, really, but he was too hungry to care.

“How was your nap?” Yuugi asked.

“Uh… Fine,” Atem yawned once more. “Think I’m gonna go back to sleep…”

Yuugi laughed slightly, and nodded. “Yeah, I think I’m going to go to sleep, too. We’ve still got a while ‘till we reach Tokyo.”

This time, it was Yuugi who leaned against Atem’s shoulder. Atem briefly debated warning Yuugi that this would hurt his neck- But it just felt so nice, and he was so tired…

“Goodnight, Other Me. I love you,” Yuugi muttered as he closed his eyes, snuggling up against Atem as best he could in the airplane seat.

“Goodnight, Aibou. I love you too,” Atem sighed softly, and soon fell asleep once more.


	6. Okaeri

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a double whammy for y'all tonight! Because originally chapters 5 and 6 were one chapter, and then I realized that made no sense, so now you get two chapters. Enjoy!  
> Oh, also warning for brief mentions of child abuse.

Airplanes were a mistake, Atem thought as he stood by Yuugi at the luggage carousel. It wasn’t the planes themselves that were a problem, per se- It was airports, the horrible, horrible nightmare realms that came part and parcel with airplanes. Why had humans decided to put all their transportation technology points into flight, instead of just inventing faster boats? Even the great god Ra traveled by boat; Clearly, the invention of airplanes had been an act of hubris by humanity, and airports were their punishment. Atem almost suspected that airports weren’t truly of the earthly realm at all, but were rather one of the more evil areas of the Duat.

The moment Atem had stepped off the plane and into the airport, he’d felt like he’d been hit by a tidal wave, and he hated it. In all honesty, he was no longer just overwhelmed and anxious and uncomfortable, but now he was also pissed off on top of it. How _dare_ he be subjected to this bullshit for a third time? Didn’t the airport understand how much stress he was already under? It wasn’t fair. The fact that he knew that he’d only be going from one stressful situation to another didn’t exactly help, either; Really, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry, or commit murder.

He took a deep, shaky breath, and squeezed Yuugi’s hand a little tighter.

Narita International Airport was, in many ways, exactly like Cairo International Airport, and yet at the same time just different enough to be frustrating. It lacked the warm details (small though they may have been) of Cairo, and its high ceilings, pristine white color scheme, and glossy floors gave it a feeling not unlike a department store from hell. The fact that Atem could now understand the majority of the background conversations only made things worse, as his brain now tried to focus on _every single word at once._ Every “I’ll be there in…”, every “Yes, I’m leaving at…”, every “Have a safe flight”, every “Which way is..?”, every “I’d like to make a reservation for…”, every single little snippet of conversation- Not only did he have to hear them, but he had no choice but to understand them, which was even more exhausting.

He wished he could put his hands over his ears, and try to just block out the noise, but he couldn’t; Covering his ears would require him to let go of Yuugi’s hand, which meant he would have to actively pay attention to where Yuugi and Grandpa were, and paying attention to anything seemed like a near-impossible task in his current state.

He sighed, and glanced around the airport. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom,” he decided in a tired mutter.

“Ok,” Yuugi replied with a nod. “Do you know where it is?”

Atem shook his head.

“Yuugi, why don’t you go with him?” Grandpa suggested. “I’ll wait here for you.”

It took a few minutes for Yuugi and Atem to find the bathrooms- ...Well, mostly Yuugi, as Atem just kind of followed him silently. Atem silently handed Kuriboh to Yuugi, and hurried off to the men’s room.

Yuugi sighed as he leaned against the wall, holding the stuffed Kuriboh and waiting patiently for Atem to return. (It really was quite soft, he thought to himself idly.) He hoped Atem would be alright; It was clear he was stressed, and although Yuugi knew it was mostly just due to the environment, there was also the matter of Yuugi’s parents to deal with. Poor Atem had been tossing and turning over their inevitable meeting for days, and going straight to it from the airport… Yuugi couldn’t help but worry about how he was going to handle it.

(In all honesty, for all Yuugi tried to reassure Atem that things would be fine, he’d have been lying if he said he wasn’t worried too. He knew his parents would never be so cruel as to simply turn Atem away at the door, but what if they didn’t believe them? What if they decided they didn’t want to deal with raising another son, and that Atem could only stay until he found somewhere else to go? Hell, what if they were horrified by Yuugi’s tales of possession and danger, and really _did_ turn Atem away completely? Yuugi was fairly confident that his parents weren’t the type to react that way, especially not after meeting Atem face-to-face, but… Still. There were plenty of possibilities for how breaking the news could go, and not all of them were good. Yuugi had always been an anxious person in general; He maintained a facade of optimism and cheer for Atem’s sake, but in reality, he was a hell of a lot more worried than he let on.)

As Yuugi pondered these things, leaning casually against the wall next to the bathroom door, he caught a flash of a familiar figure nearby.

“Oh! Hello, Kaiba-kun,” he greeted Kaiba as he approached. “Didn’t think I’d see you here. Are you going on a business trip?”

Kaiba gave a soft snort. “Something like that, I suppose,” he answered. “My business is with… _Him.”_

Yuugi frowned confusedly for a moment, before realizing what Kaiba meant. “Oh, you mean Atem?”

Kaiba nodded silently.

“He’s in the bathroom right now,” Yuugi explained, nodding towards the door. “Um, I don’t think he’s really in the mood to talk, though-”

Kaiba didn’t answer, as he suddenly appeared frozen, staring straight towards the bathroom door. Yuugi blinked in confusion, and turned to find that Atem had returned.

For a few seconds, there was silence. No one said a word, only stared at each other- Kaiba, with wide eyes and an unreadable expression; Atem, with a flat, dull gaze, tired and not fully registering what was going on; And Yuugi, with a look that gradually shifted from confused to concerned.

After a moment, Kaiba took a deep breath, and straightened his posture.

“Well. You’ve certainly kept me waiting long enough,” he said, in that same haughty tone he always had- Though Yuugi seemed to catch a hint of hesitation. Kaiba flipped his duel disk open, and said simply, “Duel me.”

...Atem stared blankly at Kaiba for a moment, trying to process what was going on.

“No.”

Kaiba blinked, taken aback. “What?”

“I don’t want to duel right now,” Atem repeated, turning back towards Yuugi. “Sorry, Kaiba. Another time.”

Kaiba frowned, first in confusion, then anger. “What do you mean, you don’t want to duel? What’s wrong with you?”

Atem shrugged, and took Kuriboh from Yuugi’s arms. The two of them began walking back towards the baggage claim; Kaiba, however, seemed undeterred, stomping alongside them.

“Is this some sort of joke?” he demanded.

Atem sighed. “No, I just… Don’t want to duel right now,” he said once again.

“I’m not giving you the option of saying no,” Kaiba informed him, scowling in anger. “I’ve waited a long time for this duel. You think you can just deny me like this? Not to mention that you wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for me,” he insisted. “I played your little game, running around going out of my way, putting _my_ company at risk to get you _your_ illegal forgeries on a whim, and now you think you can just walk away? You _owe_ me a duel. I-”

Atem took a deep breath, and before anyone had the chance to react, he grabbed Kaiba by the lapel of his _stupid_ obnoxious white coat, dragging him roughly down to Atem’s own eye level.

“You want to know what I think?!” Atem hissed quietly, glaring up at Kaiba, ignoring his shocked expression. “I’ve been alive for less than a week. I’ve been stuck in a shitty little hotel room for almost all of that time, and I haven’t gotten the chance to get used to anything. Every fucking sound in this stupid fucking airport is like someone shooting a gun next to my ear. I’ve been on a plane for _sixteen goddamn hours_ and the only thing I’ve eaten in that time is half a bag of potato chips, I’ve been up since 7:00 in the fucking morning and it’s still only 11:00 here, and I haven’t slept well literally ever in my life. In a little while I’m going to have to try to convince _my own parents_ of my identity and hope they don’t kick me out of the house. I don’t even have anything to duel with, because Yuugi’s duel disk is in his bag, which _you_ haven’t even given us a chance to go get because you can’t go five goddamn minutes without throwing a tantrum over how you want to duel me _right now,_ because god forbid the world doesn’t revolve around you for a single second,” he snapped. “So no, I don’t want to duel you right now. I feel like shit and I don’t have time for you. Now you can either piss off and wait a day, or I can break your duel disk arm,” he finished with a snarl.

Yuugi could only watch, stunned, as Atem shoved Kaiba away with just as much abrupt force as he’d grabbed him. Kaiba, too, seemed to be in shock, stumbling backwards and staring with his eyes and mouth wide open in surprise; After a moment’s recovery, he stood back up, dusting off his jacket and glaring daggers at Atem.

“Don’t touch me,” he snarled as he straightened out his jacket. “And I don’t recall asking for you to tell me all your problems. What am I, your therapist?”

Atem, however, had already stopped paying attention to Kaiba. He hung back at Yuugi’s side like a shadow, curled up and grimacing in discomfort. Yuugi glanced briefly at Kaiba; He had half a mind to point out that Kaiba’s comment had been real hypocritical, given the way he so obviously chose to obsess over beating Atem instead of addressing whatever was causing him to base his entire sense of self-worth on his rank within certain competitive circles of a children’s card game, but chose to refrain from saying so. He knew it’d only aggravate Kaiba further.

“I’m sorry, Kaiba-kun, but Atem’s just really not feeling up to a duel right now. Besides, an airport isn’t really a good place for it anyway,” Yuugi told Kaiba with a forced apologetic look, hoping to convince him to back down. “I’m sure you can duel over the weekend, though!”

With that, he hurried away towards the baggage claim area, hoping Kaiba wouldn’t follow them.

“Tomorrow,” Kaiba shouted after them after a moment. “Tomorrow you _will_ duel me. No more excuses.”

Yuugi rolled his eyes, and pulled Atem along a little bit faster.

* * *

Fortunately, that was the last Yuugi and Atem saw of Seto Kaiba for the day. The three of them stopped for lunch at, naturally, a burger restaurant; Atem didn’t eat much, as he quickly discovered that the multitude of textures on the burger were a nightmare, and instead settled for his fries (as well as some of everyone else’s fries). After lunch, they continued on towards home, taking the train back to Domino- An interesting experience for Atem, and not exactly a pleasant one, but frankly still not as bad as the airport.

And so, about two hours later, Yuugi and Atem stood outside the entrance to Kame Game Shop, staring at the familiar doors with a mixture of relief and apprehension.

“I guess this is it, huh,” Yuugi said quietly.

Atem took a deep, nervous breath.

Yuugi shot him a reassuring smile- Though it seemed to waver slightly. “Don’t worry. Things will turn out just fine, you’ll see,” he promised.

Atem bit his lip, and nodded. 

Right. It would all be fine. Of course it would, he tried to convince himself as he followed Yuugi and Grandpa into the empty shop.

Everything would be fine. All he had to do was… Convince Yuugi’s mother, who had never knowingly met or even spoken to him before, to adopt him instead of deciding he was crazy and kicking him out. No biggie. He could treat it like a diplomatic mission; His mother was a foreign dignitary, and as pharaoh, it was his job to make a good impression and convince her party to accept his proposal. Easy. He’d done plenty of things like this before.

(Granted, it had really been the priests who had sealed the deal most of the time, because- King or not- There was something about young teens that adults just didn’t take seriously. But if letting his uncle unnecessarily repeat everything he said when people thought he wasn’t there was what it took to look after his kingdom, Atem had been perfectly willing to grit his teeth and bear the disrespect.)

“We’re home,” Yuugi and Grandpa called out as they stepped through the curtain separating the shop from the house. (Atem almost joined in out of habit, but stopped himself at the last minute.)

And then, it happened. 

“Welcome back!” Yuugi’s mother greeted them cheerfully, hurrying over to say hello. “I missed both of you… so…”

Her voice died in her throat as her gaze fell upon Atem, eyes widening in disbelief. Atem, too, found himself unable to do anything but stare right back, his mind suddenly short-circuiting as he struggled to think of what to say first; Fortunately, he didn’t have to, as Yuugi stepped in for him.

“Mom, this is the Other Me, Atem,” Yuugi introduced them. 

These words seemed to snap Atem back to reality, and he took a deep breath. Right. It was a diplomatic mission, he reminded himself; He had to make a good impression. He let out the breath he’d been holding, squared his shoulders, and did his best to adopt the same calm, mature expression he’d taken on so many times before. 

“Hello,” he said, bowing deeply. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Mrs. Mutou blinked, looking slightly stunned, before nodding politely- If confusedly- In return. “Y-Yes, of course, nice to meet you too… Um… Why don’t you all put your bags down, and then let’s all sit down and talk?” she said slowly.

Atem shared a nervous glance with Yuugi, feeling his heart beat faster with anxiety. He said nothing, but followed Yuugi and Grandpa into the living room, leaving his sandals at the door. 

It was strange, really, to think that he was a stranger to this household; He _knew_ this house by heart. The TV, the couch, the ugly coffee table, the tree in the corner… The curtains over the big windows, the shelf full of family photos he’d seen dozens of times and game sets he’d played with Grandpa… He didn’t even need to be told where to put his shoes, because he’d done it so many times after returning from his late-night escapades, and he’d been by Yuugi’s side every time he took his shoes off after school.

Everything about this house was home to him, and yet it… Wasn’t. It couldn’t be, not unless he managed to successfully bargain for permission to call it such.

Atem couldn’t help trembling slightly as he sat down next to Yuugi, across from the adults. He bit his lip, fighting to maintain his poker face.

Mrs. Mutou took a deep breath.

“...Alright, so. Please… Explain this whole… _Thing_ to me again,” she requested, gesturing towards Yuugi and Atem. “When you called, I honestly thought you were joking.”

“Why would we joke about something like this?” Yuugi retorted, frowning in concern.

“N-No, I can understand that assumption, actually,” Grandpa admitted, blushing and rubbing his neck as he recalled some of his… Track record, as it were. “I’m sorry, everyone. That’s probably my fault.”

Atem’s gaze flickered to the floor, but he tried to remain steady as the conversation continued.

“Ok, well… Um… Basically, so, Atem and I are the same person,” Yuugi began tentatively. “We didn’t know it for a long time, because his soul was sealed in the Millennium Puzzle, and he didn’t have his memories. Then we got his memories back, and went to Egypt so we could-”

“Hold on, back up,” Mrs. Mutou interrupted. “What do you mean, ‘the same person’? You’re obviously two different people, I mean… I’m looking at you,” she pointed out, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

This time, Atem was the one to speak up. “Technically, it… Might make more sense to say that we _used_ to be the same person, in a sort of past life,” he explained. “About three thousand years ago, we were the Pharaoh.”

“So, co-rulers?” Mrs. Mutou questioned.

“No. We were one singular person,” Atem clarified.

“Just, like, a normal person, forget about the whole ‘us’ thing,” Yuugi added, waving his hand dismissively.

Atem nodded. (He glanced briefly away from Yuugi’s mother, trying not to think about the look in her eyes.) “Right. During the time when… The normal person in question was king, a very powerful and very evil entity known as Zorc Necrophades was resurrected, and tried to destroy the world. He killed a lot of people,” he admitted quietly. “It got to a point where we were out of options. I- Or rather, we- Had to split our own soul into two pieces in order to seal Zorc away.”

“So half of it became me, and half of it became Atem,” Yuugi added in.

Mrs. Mutou frowned in confusion, glancing at the two of them. “So like, a reincarnation thing..?” she guessed, staring at Yuugi and Atem each in turn.

There was… An unsettling difference in the way she looked at the two of them, Atem realized. She looked at Yuugi with recognition, familiarity, and ease, as if she’d looked at him a thousand times; When she looked at Atem, however, there was nothing there but confusion. Uncertainty. Suspicion. She looked at him like he was a stranger, an intruder, and it scared him.

Atem took a deep breath, and gripped the cushion beneath him anxiously.

“S-Sort of, yes,” he answered, forcing himself to meet her gaze. “Yuugi- Or, to be more precise, Yuugi’s half of our soul, got reincarnated. My half did not. I… Was trapped continually inside the Millennium Puzzle for three thousand years, along with Zorc. My memories were sealed away to act as the key,” he recounted, shuddering at the memory of his time spent in self-imposed exile.

“When I solved the Millennium Puzzle, it released Atem’s soul, but not his memories,” Yuugi explained. “And he didn’t have his memories, or a body. So we shared a body for a while, and he pretended to be me- Um, sort of, anyway- Because he didn’t have an identity of his own.”

Mrs. Mutou glanced at Atem with a frown. God, there was that look again; Atem tensed, feeling a strange urge to run away, but he forced himself to fight against it. He had to stay calm, even when staying calm seemed like… A near-impossible task.

There was a brief pause, as everyone waited for the story to continue. Yuugi seemed to sense Atem’s unease, and continued the story in his stead.

“So, um, a… Um… A bunch of stuff happened, and we managed to get Atem’s memories back,” Yuugi continued. “And then-”

“You mean you remember your past life?” Mrs. Mutou interrupted, raising an eyebrow.

Yuugi blinked. “Er… No. _I_ don’t,” he admitted. “Atem does, but I don’t, not really anyway. But that’s ok.”

Mrs. Mutou’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Alright then…” she muttered, and god, the way she looked at Atem was so accusatory. Things weren’t going well, he realized. She didn’t like him. It had barely been five minutes, and already she hated him, he knew it. He was failing. He was _failing._

“...Did I do something wrong?” Atem asked quietly, voice shaking.

Mrs. Mutou gave him a strange frown, as Yuugi glanced over in worry. “No, why?”

“Oh. N-Nevermind, forget I- Nevermind,” Atem muttered, burning red with embarrassment.

Mrs. Mutou frowned once more, biting her lip, but said nothing.

Meanwhile, Yuugi took a deep breath, preparing to continue the story. “...So, um… Our friend Ishizu-san- Um, she’s a historian from Egypt, but she’s also kind of like a priestess or something… Sort of? I-It’s kind of complicated. Anyway- So, um, she told us that we had to go to Egypt and duel in this temple so Atem could pass on to the afterlife- ‘Cause at that point we didn’t know we were the same person, we thought he was just a ghost,” he clarified. “So, we did all that, and then… We found out that Atem actually can’t go to the afterlife, because he only has half a soul. So he got spit back out with a new body, for… Some reason, I don’t really know. Point is, he’s here now,” Yuugi finished.

“And so this means that he’s… Going to live with us,” Mrs. Mutou said slowly, confusedly, for confirmation.

...Suddenly, Atem couldn’t take it anymore. 

The look in her eyes, the tone of her voice… It was so, _so_ painfully clear that she didn’t think of him as her son. She looked at him like he was a stranger, an invader, a burden. There was anger in her eyes, in her voice; He knew, he _knew_ with everything he had, that she didn’t want him there. His mother despised him, he knew. There was nothing but cold hatred in her eyes, burning through Atem with her gaze, stabbing him in the heart. He just wanted to be accepted, to be allowed to stay with his family, but he knew- She made it so clear-

His mother wanted him dead, and Atem had never felt so unwanted in his life.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out, and before anyone could react, he jumped up from the floor and ran.

Mrs. Mutou looked up, eyes wide in shock, as the strange new boy ran right past the couch and towards the hall. She heard barely-concealed sobs, loud stomping up the stairs, and then the distinct sound of Yuugi’s bedroom door being slammed shut.

“Oh no,” Yuugi muttered, and hurried after Atem.

* * *

Atem ran to Yuugi’s bedroom purely on instinct, forgetting that he technically hadn’t been given permission to enter the rest of the house; All he knew was that he needed to get away, and somehow, his feet wound up bringing him to the only safe space he’d ever known. He threw himself forwards onto the bed, burying his sobs in the pillow that still smelled like home.

Everything was so _wrong._ His mother’s face kept flashing through his mind- He saw the hatred in her eyes, heard the disgust in her voice at the thought of him staying with them, over and over and over again. He pressed his hands against his ears and squeezed his eyes shut, but the fresh memories wouldn’t get out of his head, and he felt like he’d rather die than have to keep repeating them.

“What’s wrong, Other Me?” Yuugi asked gently, as he sat down on the bed next to Atem.

“Mom hates me!” Atem wailed. “She hates me,” he repeated a second time, in a more quiet, whimpering sob.

“No, she doesn’t,” Yuugi murmured, running a hand along Atem’s back, trying to calm him with his touch. “Of could mom doesn’t hate you.”

“She does,” Atem insisted. “She do- she doesn’t want me here, she- She wants me to die,” he sobbed.

Yuugi gasped, eyes widening in horror. “No, of course she doesn’t! She would _never!”_ he exclaimed. “Mom would never think that about anyone. Why would you say something like that?”

“She does! She does, I- I saw it,” Atem insisted once again.

Yuugi frowned confusedly. “What do you mean, you saw it?”

“She- She doesn’t… L-Look at me the way she looks at you,” Atem whimpered. “She hates me, I-I saw it in the, the way she looked at me… And sh-she sounded so angry when- When she asked if-” He trailed off, his voice caught up in a deep sob.

Yuugi bit his lip. “Come on, you know that’s not true. Why would mom want you to die?”

“I don’t know! I-I don’t know,” Atem wailed. “Because I- I’m not supposed to ex- T-to exist.”

“Well neither am I,” Yuugi pointed out. 

Atem choked back another sob. “But you’re- I’m not-” He failed to finish his sentence, seemingly unable to form a coherent thought on the matter, and opted to sniffle loudly instead. “M-Mom hates me,” he repeated in another quiet whimper. “She hates me… She wants me to die…”

Yuugi sighed. “Oh, Other Me…” he muttered softly, as Atem continued to mumble to himself. 

Knowing he was getting nowhere, Yuugi said no more; He instead did his best to comfort Atem, until he could hopefully calm down enough to have a more rational discussion. Sighing once more, he lay down next to Atem, and gently wrapped an arm around him.

“It’s ok,” he whispered, nuzzling against Atem’s cheek. “You’re ok.”

Atem said nothing, but pressed himself closer to Yuugi, clutching Yuugi’s shirt as he cried.

Atem continued to sob against Yuugi’s chest for several minutes, gradually quieting down, until his tears were no more than damp streaks on his face and his breath came in gentle whimpers. Yuugi almost thought he’d fallen asleep, until he stirred gently, rolling over onto his back.

“I don’t know what to do now,” he whispered.

Yuugi bit his lip, and took a deep breath. “Are you… Are you ok to talk about it?” he asked hesitantly.

Atem sniffled, and gave a small nod.

Yuugi sighed, and sat up slowly as he thought about what to say; Atem followed suit, watching Yuugi with tired, puffy eyes, waiting expectantly for him to speak.

“...I don’t… Want to say that you’re overreacting, but… I know how it is when- When you’re already scared,” Yuugi began slowly, tentatively, fidgeting idly with the Millennium Puzzle. “Everything just seems so much worse. You work yourself up so much, and get so convinced that whatever bad thing you think is going to happen, is actually happening. But I was watching my mom too, and I’m telling you now, I didn’t notice anything at all like that,” he promised.

“Then why was she- Looking at me like that?” Atem questioned quietly.

Yuugi shook his head. “She was looking at you a little funny, yeah, but it’s just her confused face,” he explained. “Mom just hasn’t gotten to know you yet. She doesn’t know that you’ve met before, and you have to admit this whole thing is a little bit crazy, so it’s only to be expected that she’s confused,” he pointed out. “I bet she’ll warm up to you real fast, though!”

Atem’s only response was a tired, dull hum.

He sighed, and flopped back down onto the mattress. He reached for the stuffed Kuriboh, abandoned at the foot of the bed; He held it close to his chest, crossing both arms around it as he stared at the ceiling.

“I think… I think I ruined everything,” he said quietly. “I blew it. I made the worst first impression I could make. Even if- Even if she doesn’t want me dead, I don’t think mom likes me.” He could feel his eyes welling up with tears again, and he blinked several times to try to fight them back.

Yuugi shook his head. “No, that was far from the worst first impression you could have made.”

“Then what would have been the worst?”

Yuugi paused for a moment, tilting his head curiously as he thought about it.

“Hmm… You know what it’s like when you go into a house in Zelda? Like, you talk to the person inside, and then you smash everything and steal their money and leave? I think that’s the worst way to make a first impression,” he decided with a nod.

This managed to at least get a small, half-hearted chuckle out of Atem. “Fair point, I guess.”

Yuugi smiled, glad to see Atem doing a little better, and reached over to rub Atem’s knee affectionately. “See? Everything’s going to turn out fine!” he said, grinning in reassurance. Atem’s small smile, however, seemed to disappear at that.

“I don’t know… I still think I… I kinda fucked up pretty bad,” he muttered. “She’s going to think I’m so weird… I don’t want to go back downstairs,” he admitted in a quiet whisper, and squeezed Kuriboh a little bit tighter.

Yuugi frowned worriedly, but gave a nod of understanding. “It’s ok. You don’t have to go back downstairs right now,” he assured Atem. “We can wait up here until you’re ready, ok? Just relax, take whatever time you need to calm down.”

Atem gave a small nod, and then took a deep breath. “Is it… Can we… Can we, um…”

“You want to cuddle?” Yuugi guessed, knowing Atem as well as he did.

Atem nodded once again.

Yuugi smiled. “Of course we can!”

Yuugi didn’t waste any time in lying back down again, crawling over to Atem’s side. Atem sighed, and snuggled up against Yuugi, grateful for the sense of safety Yuugi brought. Even with everything feeling as terrible as it did at the moment, being close to Yuugi still just felt so _right,_ it seemed to make all his pain hurt a little bit less; Yuugi _was_ his home, and right by his side was where Atem belonged, his safe space where everything was almost ok. As long as Yuugi was there, Atem just felt… Better, in a way he couldn’t describe.

“Thank you,” he muttered softly.

Yuugi smiled, and pulled Atem just a little bit closer.

* * *

Mrs. Mutou sat quietly on the couch, feeling a little bit stunned. What had been a perfectly ordinary afternoon had very quickly taken a turn for the bizarre, and now she honestly wasn’t sure what to do… Or what to think, for that matter. Her father-in-law didn’t seem to be providing any obvious answers, either, as he sighed next to her with a worried, pensive expression.

“I was afraid something like this might happen,” he muttered, shaking his head.

Mrs. Mutou bit her lip, crossing one arm over the other in confusion. “I don’t understand. Why did he run off like that? Did I say something to upset him?” she wondered.

Grandpa shook his head. “No, I don’t think so, not in particular anyway… He’s just very stressed, the poor thing,” he explained with a worried frown. “He’s been very worried about how you would react to meeting him. I think the stress finally got to him, that’s all.”

“Dad… Just where _did_ this boy come from, anyway? What’s his story, really?” Mrs. Mutou asked quietly.

“What do you mean? They just told you,” Grandpa pointed out.

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “You can’t seriously expect me to believe all that, can you?”

A strange look suddenly passed over Grandpa’s face, disappointed and a little bit sad, yet resolved.

“No, I suppose not,” he conceded with a sigh. “But if you’re looking for a different answer, you won’t get one from me. I don’t have one to give.”

With that, he turned away. He slowly stood up off the couch, and walked over to his suitcase.

“I guess I ought to start putting this stuff away,” he muttered. He began dragging the suitcase towards the stairs, leaving his daughter-in-law alone on the couch, left to quietly wonder just what was going on.

* * *

Atem sat quietly on Yuugi’s bed, fidgeting with his shirt as he wondered what to do next. He’d calmed down over the course of the past several hours, for the most part, but he still couldn’t help but worry, his mind occupied by an idle drone of _now what?,_ imagining what might happen when he- Reluctantly, inevitably- Finally went downstairs again.

Yuugi, meanwhile, had kept himself busy while waiting for Atem to gather his courage. He’d snuck downstairs not too long ago, and brought his bags upstairs; He’d just about finished unpacking, placing Atem’s jewelry carefully inside one of the drawers in his closet.

Just as he closed the closet, Yuugi heard a knock come at the door. He glanced at Atem; Atem met his gaze with wide, fearful eyes, both clearly thinking the same thing.

“It’s me,” Grandpa called from the other side of the door, and Yuugi and Atem both visibly relaxed. “Can I come in?”

Yuugi hesitated for just a moment, waiting for confirmation from Atem, who soon nodded.

“Sure,” Yuugi told Grandpa.

Atem noted the way the door creaked as Grandpa entered, committing it to memory for no real reason at all- He’d long since made it a habit to pay attention to things that might give him away when sneaking out. Grandpa smiled reassuringly, oblivious to the door.

“Dinner’s in about an hour,” he told the boys. “You should come down soon.”

Yuugi glanced at Atem, who shifted uncomfortably.

“Is… Is she mad at me?” Atem asked quietly.

Grandpa shook his head. “No, don’t worry. She’s… Confused, I think, but not angry,” he promised.

“Let’s go downstairs, then,” Yuugi agreed. “I think it’d probably be better to go now than to wait until dinner.”

Atem sighed, and nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he admitted reluctantly.

Yuugi shot Atem a reassuring smile, as Grandpa turned to head back downstairs. “It won’t be so bad! We can just hang out in the living room and play games, or something. It’ll be fine,” he insisted.

Atem nodded once again, but said no more.

He followed quietly behind Yuugi, out of the bedroom and through the hall, down the stairs, quietly hoping they wouldn’t run into Yuugi’s mother; He knew deep down, though, that such an encounter was unavoidable. Besides, if he was going to stay- Which Yuugi insisted he was, and Atem desperately prayed he might still have a chance at- Then he was going to have to talk to her sooner or later.

Maybe if he apologized nicely enough, she wouldn’t hate him as much.

Sure enough, there was Mom- No, _Yuugi’s_ mom, Atem reminded himself- Standing between the kitchen and the living room, watching the TV between cooking steps. She glanced up as she noticed Yuugi and Atem approach; There was an unspoken question in her eyes, along with that same cold, detached look as before.

Atem felt himself freeze as he met her gaze, but forced himself to keep going, knowing he had to say something.

“...Um-” he began quietly, but his breath caught in his throat with fear.

Mrs. Mutou frowned, and glanced between Atem and Yuugi. “Hey, listen-”

“I-I’m very sorry about earlier,” Atem finally blurted out, bowing deeply in apology, forcing the words out like ripping off a bandaid. “I… The way I behaved was- Very rude and childish, and- And I sincerely apologize.” He bowed a second time for good measure, hoping humility might help meet her approval.

“Hey, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Yuugi insisted, but Atem ignored him, still waiting for unspoken permission to look up again.

Mrs. Mutou blinked in surprise. “You don’t have to be so formal…” she replied, frowning confusedly. “It’s alright. I’m… Sorry I upset you.”

Atem opened his mouth to speak, but found himself freezing again as he looked back up at her. 

...Well, he’d done what he’d set out to do, at least. He’d given his apology, and that was good enough, he decided. With this in mind, he hurried away to the living room, leaving little time for any additions- Nor time for anyone to catch sight of the pain in his eyes.

Atem practically threw himself onto the couch, sinking into the cushions with a whine. Yuugi soon followed, sitting down next to him with a far more gentle motion.

“See? You did it! Everything went fine! I told you mom wasn’t mad,” he said with a wide smile.

Atem sighed. “I guess… I don’t know… Can we- Can we, um, do a puzzle or something?” he asked in a quiet mutter, crossing his arms over his stomach and glancing nervously around the room.

“Sure,” Yuugi replied, and hurried over to the bookshelf in the corner, where a number of games and puzzles were stored.

Atem remained quiet as he watched Yuugi debate which puzzle to do. The TV was still on, just as Yuugi’s mother had left it, playing some cheery NHK program; Atem kind of wanted to turn it off, but part of him didn’t want to have to deal with the unsettling silence it would have left behind, and all of him most certainly didn’t want to have to deal with asking for permission to turn the TV off.

“How’s this one?” Yuugi asked, holding up a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle box. The front of the box showed a brightly colored photo of Mt. Fuji in the springtime, echoing the relaxing atmosphere of whatever was on TV; Atem found it almost ironic how the whole room itself seemed to be advertising that distinctly Japanese style of tranquility and calm that tourists and old people seemed to love so much, while he himself had been nothing but stressed to his limit since arriving in Japan.

Then again, he supposed, he’d been stressed in Egypt, too. And stressed on the plane.

...He couldn’t really criticize “Japanese tranquility”, he realized, because what he wanted most right now was kind of to just take a bath for several hours. Long baths were most certainly _not_ an ancient Egyptian thing.

Atem sighed once again, shaking his his head as he moved to the floor to join Yuugi.

* * *

“Do you think Kaiba’s really going to try to duel you tomorrow?” Yuugi wondered, turning a few puzzle pieces around as he debated which sky pieces went where.

Atem shrugged. “Dunno. I wouldn’t put it past him, honestly,” he admitted, shaking his head and pressing a puzzle piece into place.

“If he does, are you going to duel him?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Atem decided. “As much as he is an obnoxious prick with an unhealthy obsession with dueling me, Kaiba’s honestly pretty fun to-”

Atem’s sentence was interrupted by a cheerful call of, “I’m home!”. Both Yuugi and Atem glanced up, looking towards the door with wide eyes.

Yuugi’s father whistled cheerfully to himself as he entered the house, slipping his shoes into the rack by the door.

“Hey, Yuugi. Hey… er…” Mr. Mutou frowned in confusion as his gaze fell upon Atem.

“Hi, dad,” Yuugi replied with a wave.

Atem shifted nervously, glancing towards the floor. “Um… Hi,” he muttered, just barely audible.

Mr. Mutou opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again, tilting his head as his look of confusion deepened. 

After a few seconds, he gave a slow nod, and turned towards the kitchen. There, he found his wife cooking, as per usual for the time of day; He was relieved to find there was only one of her.

“...Honey?” he began hesitantly.

“Yes, dear?”

“Um… Since when have we had two kids?”

Mrs. Mutou sighed. “Since today, apparently,” she replied, shaking her head in disbelief. “Evidently, Yuugi made a new friend in Egypt, and… Decided he’s moving in with us, I guess.”

Mr. Mutou blinked in confusion. “Ok… Why? How? I-I’m confused,” he said with a frown.

He tilted his head thoughtfully as his wife beckoned him closer.

“Don’t mention it in front of them, but… The poor kid’s obviously been pretty badly abused,” she explained in a low, quiet tone, glancing towards the doorway as if afraid of being overheard. “I was a little freaked out at first, given that dad and Yuugi sort of kidnapped a kid, but…” She shook her head, biting her lip and turning her gaze downwards solemnly. “Seeing the way he behaves… It makes me furious to think that there are really people out there who would treat their kids like that. I can’t just turn him away.”

“So he ran away with Yuugi?” Mr. Mutou asked quietly.

Mrs. Mutou nodded. “Seems that way. He doesn’t seem to want to talk about it, though, so don’t mention it in front of him. He and Yuugi came up with this whole… Story to try to justify it,” she recalled, frowning slightly.

“Oh yeah? What was the story?”

Mrs. Mutou sighed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know, something ridiculous about… Something like, he and Yuugi are reincarnations of a pharaoh that got separated at birth, or something like that, and he- Used to be a ghost haunting the Millennium Puzzle, or something? I don’t know, it was really weird and didn’t make any sort of sense,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. “He freaked out when I kept asking questions, though.”

“Wait, did you say the Millennium Puzzle was involved?” he interjected, raising an eyebrow in surprise. 

“So they claim,” Mrs. Mutou confirmed, shrugging. “I don’t really get it. Your father’s been acting weird about the whole thing, too,” she added with a slight frown of confusion.

Mr. Mutou’s brow furrowed in thought. “I see… I’m going to go talk to him about it, then,” he decided.

“Be my guest, but he’s not going to tell you anything helpful,” Mrs. Mutou called after him, shaking her head as she turned her attention back towards the stove. 

Mr. Mutou left the kitchen, and glanced back towards the living room for just a moment; Sure enough, there were still one, two distinct boys seated by the coffee table, quietly finishing up their puzzle by the light of the TV. Although he’d definitely noticed it from the beginning, it suddenly struck him just how bizarrely identical the two looked- Not just in their fashion sense, but in their faces, their body types, the way they seemed to unconsciously mirror each other as they worked. Were it not for the second boy’s dark skin, angular eyes, and messy hair, he almost wouldn’t have known which was which.

Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Mr. Mutou pushed the curtain aside, stepping back into the family shop. 

“Hey dad, can I ask you a question?” he began.

Grandpa nodded. “Of course, my boy, anything you like. What is it?”

“What’s… er…” Mr. Mutou frowned in confusion. “What’s up with… Yuugi’s doppleganger there?”

Grandpa raised an eyebrow. “Did Mitsuko not tell you?” he wondered.

“She told me some things, but not much. She seemed pretty confused,” Mr. Mutou admitted.

“Mm.” Grandpa sighed as he turned away from the counter to face his son. “The long and the short of it is… Our sweet Yuugi is, in a manner of speaking, the reincarnation of the pharaoh who originally owned the Millennium Puzzle. Unfortunately, the Pharaoh’s soul was split in two, many thousands of years ago. Half of it was sealed into the Millennium Puzzle,” he explained.

“Is that why Yuugi was able to solve it, then?” Mr. Mutou guessed.

Grandpa nodded. “Exactly. After Yuugi solved the Millennium Puzzle, the sealed half of the Pharaoh’s soul awoke, and began sharing a body with Yuugi. For a time, he lived with amnesia, and no idea who he was or where he came from,” he recalled, frowning slightly in sympathy. “Those boys and their friends fought long and hard to get the Other Yuugi’s memories back.”

“Is that what the sudden vacation to Egypt was about?”

“Sort of,” Grandpa replied. “He already had his memories at that point. The reason for the Egypt trip was to... Perform a ritual of sorts, I suppose, that would allow the Pharaoh’s soul to pass on into the afterlife. However, because he doesn’t _have_ a complete soul, the ritual failed despite doing everything right. Instead, he somehow wound up gaining a body of his own instead.”

Mr. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “How does _that_ work?” he wondered. 

“Honestly, I have no idea,” Grandpa admitted with a shrug. “But in any case, there you have it. ‘Yuugi’s doppleganger’, as you so aptly put it, is in fact the other half of Yuugi’s soul, and comes directly from ancient Egypt.”

Mr. Mutou remained quiet for a long time.

“...Huh,” was all he said after a moment.

Grandpa glanced at his son curiously. “Did you have any other questions, or is that it?”

“...N… No, none that I can think of right now…” Mr. Mutou replied, though his confusion was still quite clear on his face. “I’m… A little lost, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out eventually. I think?”

“Don’t worry- It sounds complicated when you try to explain it with words, but when you see it, it makes more sense,” Grandpa assured him with a smile.

Mr. Mutou nodded slowly, and returned to the living room. He smiled despite his confusion, determined to treat this strange, mysterious new child no differently from how he treated Yuugi.

“So… Mt. Fuji, huh?” he said as he sat down on the couch. “Mind if I help?”

Yuugi looked to Atem for an answer; He could see uncertainty and fear in Atem’s eyes as he glanced towards his father, but after a moment, he gave a small nod.

“Sure,” Yuugi answered for him.

Mr. Mutou smiled, and reached for a puzzle piece. Yuugi could tell that his smile masked a deep confusion; He knew Atem could probably see it as well, and prayed Atem wouldn’t mistake confusion for anger. Still, there was sincerity in his smile, however uncertain it may have been.

Mr. Mutou glanced up at Atem as he examined a puzzle piece. “So… uh… What’s your name?” he questioned, polite yet hesitant, sounding more like he was asking for a reminder than meeting someone new.

“Oh… um…” Atem fidgeted nervously in place, avoiding Mr. Mutou’s gaze. “It’s- It’s Atem.”

Mr. Mutou nodded. “Atemu, huh?”

Atem shook his head, and glanced away again. “Just Atem,” he muttered quietly.

“Aten?”

Atem curled in on himself slightly, reluctant to correct him a second time; He didn’t want to be annoying. Yuugi, however, had no such reservations.

“No, dad, it’s _Atem,”_ he repeated. _“Ah_ -teh-mmmm. It’s Egyptian,” he explained.

Mr. Mutou nodded. “Got it. A-te-mm,” he repeated, and smiled cheerfully. “Well, nice to meet you, Atem. I’m dad.”

Atem couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that, nearly identical to Yuugi’s reaction.

“Dad, your name is Shougi,” Yuugi reminded him. 

Mr. Mutou shrugged, still smiling. “Well, yes, but most people call me Dad.”

“I’m the only one who calls you that,” Yuugi pointed out, giving his father a strange look. 

Before the dad in question could respond, the conversation was interrupted by Mrs. Mutou, sticking her head around the corner into the living room.

“Get ready for dinner,” she told them, and returned to the kitchen.

The boys exchanged glances.

“Guess we’ll have to finish this later, then,” Mr. Mutou said as he stood up, stretching and yawning before wandering off. “Dad, time for dinner!” he called out towards the shop.

Yuugi and Atem stood up as well, but hesitated for a moment; Yuugi watched Atem, as if checking to make sure he was alright, while Atem fidgeted nervously with his shirt.

“Um… Before we go to dinner… Can I talk to you for a minute?” Atem asked quietly.

Yuugi nodded. “Sure. What’s up?”

Atem took a deep breath, and then glanced around the room, as if afraid of being overheard.

“...I don’t know if I can do dinner,” he admitted, switching from Japanese to Egyptian.

“What do you mean?” Yuugi asked, tilting his head in concern. “Are you not hungry?”

Atem shook his head. “It’s not that, I just… I don’t know… Being around your parents scares me,” he sighed. “I don’t really know why, but I… I just feel so scared. I really feel like if I do the slightest thing wrong, they’ll- ...Kick me out,” he said in a nervous whimper, rubbing his arm and glancing towards the floor. “I know it’s a stupid thing to be afraid of, but every time I see mom or dad I- I just- I don’t know. I don’t know if I can handle dinner.”

Yuugi bit his lip, and reached out to give Atem a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s ok. Mom and dad would never kick you out,” he insisted. “Dinner will be fine, I promise. You’ll have me and Grandpa there, after all,” he reminded him, with a confident grin.

Atem sighed. “I know. I know they wouldn’t really kick me out… I guess… But I’m just… Scared of how I’m going to react,” he explained. “I don’t want to, you know, start crying in the middle of dinner and then they think I’m weird… Although I’m sure they already think that, really,” he muttered, scowling in disappointment.

Yuugi paused for a moment, trying to think about how to respond.

“...I think… I think you shouldn’t worry too much about first impressions,” he said after a few seconds, slowly, tentatively. “Maybe they think you’re weird, maybe they don’t. But they don’t dislike you, and that’s what matters. And, honestly, the fact of the matter is that you’re an emotional wreck, and you have been all week, and-”

“Gee, thanks,” Atem interrupted sarcastically.

Yuugi gave a frustrated sigh. “Look, I’m not saying it to make fun of you. My point is… Uh, how do I put this… My point is, mom and dad aren’t going to be living with some hypothetical, perfect future version of you who you can just pretend to be and hope for the best. They’re going to be living with _you,”_ he reminded him. “Yes, you are someone who cries easily, right now anyway. That’s ok. You can’t expect to hide everything from mom and dad. I’m sure they’ll love you just the same anyway, and you’ll both warm up to each other over the next few days,” he promised, and then paused, blinking and frowning slightly. “Uh, did all of that make sense..?”

“...Sort of..?” Atem replied, giving a vague handwave. “I... guess I kind of see what you’re getting at.”

“So you see what I mean then? About not worrying too much about tonight?” Yuugi repeated. “It’s not like your entire relationship hinges on your performance at dinner. It’s only the first day. You have plenty of time for mom and dad to get to know you.”

“I guess so,” Atem sighed. “It’s just… I don’t know. It’s hard not to be nervous.”

“I understand. It’s ok to be nervous.” Yuugi smiled gently, and held his hand out to Atem. “Come on, let’s go eat.”

Atem nodded, and took Yuugi’s hand, taking a deep breath to steel himself as he followed Yuugi into the dining room. 

* * *

There was no denying the awkward feeling in the air as the Mutous- And Atem, the odd one out, the disruption in their lives, never truly a part of the family- Ate their curry. Atem kept his head low, picking slowly at his rice, trying to focus on anything other than the cold gazes around him.

“...So,” Mrs. Mutou began hesitantly after a moment. “How was the Egypt trip? Did you have fun?”

“Hmm… As crazy as things were, I think so,” Yuugi answered. “We got to hang out with our friends- Oh, and we saw the Pyramids!” he recalled excitedly. “Atem says they look different from how he remembers them, though.”

“Oh really? How so?” Mr. Mutou asked.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, until Atem suddenly realized he was supposed to answer. He took a deep breath, glancing up for just a fraction of a second before answering.

“...Um.” He fidgeted nervously, gripping the hem of his shirt as he tried to work up the courage to answer. “They, um… They used to-”

“Could you speak up a bit? I didn’t catch what you said,” Mr. Mutou interrupted. Atem practically jumped.

“They- They used to be, um- They had a smooth outer layer,” he explained, speaking a bit louder. “And they used to be closer to the Nile.”

“Wanna know something crazy?” Yuugi butted in, as Atem curled in on himself slightly. “They do a light show on the Pyramids now!”

“They do _what?”_ Mrs. Mutou said in surprise.

“A light show,” Yuugi repeated. “They project this weird video about ancient Egypt onto the Pyramids and the Sphinx, every night. We got to see it, the narration was so funny,” he laughed. “The guy said ‘Giza’ like ‘Gizzay’.”

“How accurate was the video?” Grandpa wondered.

“Hmm… I don’t know,” Yuugi admitted, and turned towards Atem. “What did you think of it?”

“Uh… I-I don’t really know,” Atem replied, still fidgeting anxiously. “I don’t speak English. I don’t know.”

“Your Japanese is very good, though!” Mrs. Mutou told him with an awkward smile. 

Atem blinked, confused by this statement. “Oh… um… Thanks,” he muttered, glancing at Yuugi and Grandpa as if looking for answers.

“So, what kind of stuff are you into, Atem-kun?” Mr. Mutou asked cheerfully, between bites of curry.

Atem bit his lip. Something about the question seemed to hurt, asked with a veil of politeness and caution, as if Atem were nothing more than a new friend of Yuugi’s; After all, dad had never called Yuugi ‘Yuugi- _kun’,_ Atem thought to himself bitterly. Every time Yuugi’s parents looked at him like _that,_ every time he remembered just how much of a stranger he was to them, it hurt. He wanted it to stop- He wanted to run away, to hide under a blanket somewhere, to curl up next to Yuugi and pretend it was all just a bad dream and that his parents still loved him. But he couldn’t run away, he reminded himself; He’d already done it once that day. He needed to be strong, so he wouldn’t disappoint everyone.

(Distantly, he remembered what Bakura had said, about not pushing himself too hard and not worrying so much about what other people thought of him. If only it were that simple.)

“...I like… Games,” he finally answered, quietly, softly, still avoiding eye contact.

“Ah, just like Yuugi!” Mr. Mutou commented, his whole face lighting up with a bright smile. “I should have known. What kind of games do you like?”

Atem gave a small shrug. “All kinds,” he replied, just as quiet as before. 

“Do you have a favorite?” Mr. Mutou continued.

“Duel Monsters,” Atem muttered.

“What?”

“Duel Monsters,” Atem repeated, a bit more loudly- Though still barely loud enough to even qualify as a normal speaking volume. 

“I guess I should have seen that one coming, huh,” Mr. Mutou laughed.

Mrs. Mutou, meanwhile, was staring silently at both Yuugi and Atem, with brow furrowed in thought.

“Something wrong, Mitsuko?” Grandpa asked.

Mrs. Mutou blinked, her expression changing to one of surprise. “Huh? Oh, no,” she assured him quickly. “I was just thinking- I’m not sure how we’re going to fit a second bed in Yuugi’s room,” she admitted, frowning slightly. “If it weren’t in the attic, I’d say we could replace it with a bunk bed, but…”

“Why would we need another bed?” Yuugi asked innocently.

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow in confusion, baffled by such a question. “...So Atem can have somewhere to sleep..? I mean, unless he’d prefer a futon, of course,” she added, glancing at Atem.

Atem glanced away just as quickly as she looked at him. “Yuugi’s bed is fine,” he muttered.

Mrs. Mutou gave Atem a sympathetic look. “No, you deserve to have a space of your own. If you’re going to be living with us, it’s only right that you should get your own bed.”

“But-”

“Why don’t we just get a bigger bed?” Mr. Mutou suggested. “That way, they can have plenty of space. And there should be enough room for one.”

“Honey, they can’t just share a bed forever,” Mrs. Mutou insisted, giving him a strange look. “I mean, imagine if _you_ had to-”

Yuugi sighed. “Mom, we don’t want to have our own beds,” he finally admitted. “We- I mean, we’re… We’re two halves of the same soul, after all, and we used to share a body, so… It’s more comfortable when we can be close to each other,” he explained quietly. “If you got another bed, we’d just end up sharing anyway. I think I’d feel pretty anxious if we had to sleep separately.”

A momentary pause fell over the table, silent and awkward.

“...Right,” Mrs. Mutou said after a moment, taking a deep breath. “Of course. Well, that’s... Fine, then, whatever you two are comfortable with.”

Grandpa, meanwhile, watched Atem with a worried look; He could see the way Atem curled in on himself, shoulders practically up against his ears, glancing around with wide eyes and a tense expression, his curry cold and practically untouched on his plate. It was clear he wasn’t doing well.

“You know what?” Grandpa interrupted, speaking just loudly enough to make sure he had everyone’s attention. “The kids have had a long day. Why don’t we save the logistics for another time, and let them go relax? I’m sure they must be tired.”

“Oh, yeah, you’re right,” Mrs. Mutou realized, sighing slightly. “Sorry for bothering you two.”

“Can we go upstairs, then?” Yuugi asked.

Mrs. Mutou nodded. “Yes, you-”

The very second her permission had been given, Atem bolted, running up the stairs like his life depended on it. Yuugi’s parents could only stare in shock, taken aback by this unexpected behavior.

“...I-I’ll clean up his plate for him,” Yuugi decided, standing up to bring his dishes into the kitchen. 

“He hardly touched his food,” Mrs. Mutou observed, frowning in concern. “Does he not like it? I thought spicy food was common in the Middle East.”

“I don’t think he dislikes it, necessarily,” Yuugi called back through the doorway as he scraped his food into the garbage. “He just has a hard time with food. Maybe he was too stressed to eat.”

Yuugi rinsed the plates, wiped his hands, and hurried up to follow Atem, ignoring the looks of confusion and alarm on his parents’ faces.

He found Atem lying on the bed, staring at the posters on the wall with a tense frown.

“You ok, Other Me?” Yuugi asked as he sat down next to him, reaching out to place a hand on Atem’s side.

Atem sighed. “Yeah, I guess… I don’t know… I just- Don’t like the way they look at me,” he admitted quietly.

Yuugi gave a soft hum, and rubbed Atem’s side comfortingly. Atem took this as a sign to continue.

“It’s… It’s hard, knowing that I’m a stranger to them,” he muttered. “I mean, dad called me ‘Atem-kun’. Like I’m… Someone else’s kid. Like he doesn’t know me.”

“Well, he _doesn’t_ know you,” Yuugi reminded him. “Just give it a little time. Mom and dad need some time to adjust, that’s all. Even if they think you’ve never met before, I’m sure deep down they’ll remember you really soon,” he promised with a smile. 

Atem raised an eyebrow. “How would they _remember_ me? Normal people don’t remember their past lives, Aibou.”

“Kaiba did,” Yuugi pointed with a shrug. “Besides, I didn’t mean literally. I meant more like… Emotionally, I guess. In their hearts, I’m sure they know who you are. Grandpa always did, I think,” he added, tilting his head thoughtfully.

Atem stared silently at Yuugi with an unimpressed look, one eyebrow raised. 

“...You’re not buying any of this, are you,” Yuugi realized flatly.

“Nope.”

Yuugi sighed, and flopped down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with his arms crossed behind his head. 

“It’s like… It’s like friendship, you know? Like, you never ever forget your friends, right? ‘Cause love for your friends transcends lifetimes.”

“Mhmm.”

“Mom and dad loved us, didn’t they?” Yuugi continued.

Atem sighed softly. “Yes, they did.”

“Then I’m sure they still love you now,” Yuugi concluded. “They’re just, you know… New to this whole thing,” he said, gesturing to himself and Atem. “They just need a little time to adjust, that’s all. I’m sure soon enough, it’ll be like you were always here.”

“...I guess,” Atem said, without much enthusiasm. “Still, right now, it just… Hurts. And I’m- I’m already dealing with so much, you know?” he added, biting his lip.

Yuugi sighed, and wrapped an arm around Atem. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“I kinda just want to sleep,” Atem muttered.

“You can if you want to, you know,” Yuugi pointed out. “I know it’s only 7:30, but honestly, I’m pretty tired too. We’re both jetlagged, and we don’t have anything in particular to do tomorrow, so we could technically just go to bed.”

“I guess that’s true,” Atem realized. “We should probably at least shower first, though.”

Yuugi groaned. “I’m too tired to shower!”

“Ok, yeah, me too,” Atem agreed with a laugh. 

“Bed, then?”

As if to emphasize his answer, Atem yawned loudly, and then nodded. 

Yuugi changed into a pair of pajamas (while Atem, on the other hand, chose to simply remove everything aside from his underwear), and made a quick trip downstairs to let the adults know that they were going to sleep. Finally, he returned to the bedroom, and reached for the light switch- And then paused, glancing over at Atem. 

“Do you need the light on, or is the window good enough?”

Atem paused for a moment to think about it. He looked out towards the large, angled window, contemplating the light from the city outside. 

“...Dunno,” he admitted after a while. “Turn it off, and we’ll see.”

Yuugi obeyed, switching the light off and waiting patiently for Atem’s verdict. The distant streetlights outside cast a soft glow into the room, even as the sky in the distance remained a dusty blue, with the sun having not yet completely set.

“I think this should be fine,” Atem decided, nodding in approval. “I guess if I start getting anxious, we can turn the light back on later.”

Yuugi nodded, and with that, he climbed into bed next to Atem.

“Goodnight, Other Me,” he said with a yawn. “I hope tomorrow will be a good day.”

“Me too,” Atem agreed, sighing as he wrapped an arm around Yuugi. “Goodnight, Aibou. Sweet dreams.”

* * *

Several hours later, Atem awoke with a groan. 

To his alarm, dismay, and discomfort, his stomach seemed to be in a lot of pain; He felt weirdly shaky and sweaty, too, and his heartbeat felt usually strong. His first thought, naturally, was _oh god, oh fuck, why am I dying?,_ until he eventually remembered what Yuugi had said the last time he’d felt this way- That he wasn’t dying, he was simply hungry. 

This… Made sense, given that the only things he’d eaten in the past 24 hours or so were half a bag of potato chips, some french fries, two bites of hamburger, and about 1/6th of a serving of curry (and he’d really only eaten the rice anyway).

How inconvenient, he thought, for living beings to have to deal with such nonsense on a constant basis. An absolutely absurd design flaw; Not to mention that, given that in order to provide for themselves, humans needed to choose between putting in effort to grow or hunt their own food or spending money on food that had already been harvested, this made life undoubtedly a pay-to-win game. Ridiculous. He didn’t _want_ to eat, he wanted to _sleep,_ damn it!

After several minutes of extremely unsuccessful attempts to go back to sleep, Atem reluctantly dragged himself out of bed- Taking care not to wake Yuugi- And slipped out of the room.

He yawned, stumbling slightly as he made his way down the stairs; He felt dizzy and shaky, and he honestly wasn’t sure if it was because he was hungry, or because he’d just woken up. Even though the clock on the desk had read 11:17 PM, it felt like 4 AM, and Atem hoped he could find something that wouldn’t take too long to eat. The sooner he could go back to sleep, the better.

He sighed, and rubbed his eye, drifting sleepily in the general direction of the pantry. Maybe, if he was lucky, there might be some-

“Hello.”

Atem jumped, startled by the sudden noise; As he turned reflexively towards Yuugi’s mom, he froze in place, eyes going as wide as saucers.

“Oh,” he gasped, in quiet horror. “I didn’t- I didn’t realize you were- I-I’m sorry,” he blurted out, and took off running back towards the stairs, heart pounding.

“Wait!” Mrs. Mutou called after him.

Atem froze like a deer in the headlights, turning back towards her, yet glancing around the room as if searching for an escape.

“It’s ok, you can come in,” Mrs. Mutou assured him, putting her hands up in a gesture of peace. “Did you need something?”

Atem shook his head rapidly.

“Are you sure? Is everything alright? You can tell me, I promise I won’t get angry with you,” she continued. And there was that _look_ again, those distant eyes, that fake, forced smile like speaking to a stranger.

What neither Mrs. Mutou nor Atem had been expecting, however, was for Atem to suddenly burst into tears.

“Wha- Oh, no, no, don’t cry! It’s ok!” Mrs. Mutou stammered, standing up abruptly, not sure what to do about this sudden development. 

What did he need? Should she give him a hug, or did he need space? The fact that Mrs. Mutou had no idea how to comfort this boy, who was suddenly crying in the middle of her kitchen, was rather distressing; She found herself glancing frantically around the kitchen as if it might give her answers. What was wrong with him? Was he sick? Had he and Yuugi gotten into a fight? Was he afraid of something? Was this some sort of… Bizarre trauma thing that she was completely unequipped to handle? God, she hoped not.

“Hey, come on, what’s wrong?” she found herself asking- Trying to sound gentle, but mostly just sounding alarmed.

Atem gave no answer, only continued to wail openly where he stood. Mrs. Mutou took a deep breath, wishing for someone, _anyone_ to tell her what to do, when she suddenly heard the floor creak.

“What’s all the noise?” Grandpa wondered, and then his gaze fell upon Atem.

Grandpa bit his lip, frowning worriedly as he walked over to Atem, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Atem, dear, why are you crying?” he asked gently.

“I don’t _know!”_ Atem sobbed, and buried his face in his hands.

Grandpa took one look at Atem- Crying in the kitchen in the middle of the night, shirtless and sweaty and shaking- And sighed. “You need food, don’t you?” he realized.

Atem gave a shaky nod, and continued to cry.

“Alright, let’s get you something to eat, then.”

Taking Atem gently by the shoulders, Grandpa gently steered him over to the table, prompting Atem to automatically sit down in the nearest chair. As Atem continued to bawl in his seat, Grandpa rummaged through the pantry in search of an appropriate snack. (Mrs. Mutou, meanwhile, watched silently, still stunned and confused.)

“Let’s see, what can you have… Oh, let’s see… Ah! Here, try these,” Grandpa told Atem, placing a bag of senbei on the table in front of him.

With shaking hands, Atem opened the bag, and took out a cracker; He instantly quieted down, once his mouth was too busy to shout, yet he continued to sniffle and whimper as he slowly chewed his senbei.

“How is it? Is it alright for you?” Grandpa asked, watching Atem closely. 

Atem nodded, choking back another sob as he swallowed.

Grandpa gave a gentle smile. “Good! Now, what you really need is some protein. So you snack on those for now, and I’ll make you some scrambled eggs, alright?”

Atem nodded once more, and Grandpa began his task.

For a while, no one said anything; Atem didn’t want to, Grandpa didn’t feel a need to, and Mrs. Mutou didn’t know what to say. After a few minutes, Atem seemed to gradually settle down- Until his gaze happened to fall upon Mrs. Mutou, at which point he began to cry harder, abandoning the half-eaten cracker in his hand in favor of hiding his face. 

Mrs. Mutou opened her mouth to speak, but quickly thought the better of it; She instead looked to Grandpa, giving him a questioning, please-help-what-do-I-do expression, and hoped he would understand.

Grandpa gave her a sad, sympathetic look, and shook his head, gesturing for her to leave the room. 

Mrs. Mutou frowned in confusion. 

Once again, Grandpa gestured for her to leave- A bit more firmly this time, and then made a “shush” gesture.

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow, but didn’t argue. Quietly, carefully, she stood up and left the kitchen.

Atem continued to cry into his hands until Grandpa tapped him gently on the shoulder, sliding a plate of eggs and rice and a glass of milk onto the table in front of him.

Atem ate his makeshift dinner, slowly, quietly, without even the strength to comment on it. He gradually began to calm down, and Grandpa sat down next to him, stroking his hair gently.

“Do you want to tell me what’s bothering you?” Grandpa asked quietly.

Atem sniffled, lip trembling.

“...I’m _hungry_ and I don’t like it and I don’t like the way mom looks at me!” he blurted out in one breath, letting out another weak sob. “I-I just want to go to sleep!”

Grandpa sighed, giving Atem a sad, sympathetic look. “Oh, my dear boy… Come here.”

Atem allowed Grandpa to pull him into his arms, crying softly into his shoulder while Grandpa rubbed his back in soothing circles.

“It’s alright,” Grandpa whispered, holding Atem close. “You’ll be ok. You’re alright. Finish your dinner, now,” he said, gently letting Atem go and nodding towards his plate. “Then you’ll feel much better, and you can go right back to sleep, alright?”

Atem nodded, sniffling, and slowly went back to his eggs.

It took some time- Far longer than Atem would have liked- But he eventually managed to finish most of what was on his plate, before setting his fork down. He took a deep breath as he stood up, and with shaking hands, he picked his plate up to carry it over to the garbage.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about your dishes,” Grandpa told him. “I’ll take care of it, don’t worry. You just hurry off to bed now.”

“Ok,” Atem whispered, wiping his eyes and sniffling once more. “Thanks.”

Grandpa nodded, smiling reassuringly. “You’re welcome. Goodnight, Atem.”

“Goodnight,” Atem replied, as he made his way back towards the stairs. He paused for a moment, glancing back into the kitchen. “...Oh, and, um… Grandpa?”

“Yes?” Grandpa answered, watching Atem expectantly, a curious look on his face.

Atem paused for several seconds, before taking a deep breath.

“Um… I love you.”

Grandpa grinned widely, genuinely touched by this statement. “I love you too! Now get some sleep, my boy,” he added.

Atem nodded, and smiled for the first time since he’d come downstairs. “Ok. Goodnight.”

The stairs creaked gently underneath Atem’s feet as he slowly returned to Yuugi’s room, yawning. He did sincerely feel much better now that he’d gotten some proper food in his stomach, but now the exhaustion had set in; He sighed, and practically fell onto the bed, letting his eyes close the moment his head hit the pillow.

Yuugi mumbled something incoherent in his sleep, and instinctively reached over towards Atem, pulling him close and letting out a contented sigh.


	7. Running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At this point, I had to split the doc for this fic into two because it was so huge that it was making my phone's Google Docs app lag beyond belief and take up battery at a rate of 2% per minute. Yeet

Mrs. Mutou’s dreams were strange that night, fleeting and unsettling.

Though the details were hazy, she recalled a strange building, with high ceilings and ornate painted decorations, like a palace; A tall young man who spoke quietly to her, seemingly both above and beneath her in status, with eyes like a returning soldier who’d lost all his comrades on the battlefield; An ornate box, presented to her by the young man, small enough to hold in her hands yet heavy with the weight of death, and she could _swear_ she’d seen that box somewhere before-

Strangest of all was the feeling the dream left her when she woke up. There was a sense of… Loss, grief, brokenheartedness, as if she’d just lost a child. She lay in bed for a moment, wondering why she felt this way; The feeling lingered, yet the contents of the dream were almost entirely lost to her, as was so often the case.

She sighed and shook her head, reminding herself that it was only a dream.

Mrs. Mutou thought little of her dream after that, until she went downstairs for breakfast. There, she found Yuugi already sitting at the kitchen table- Along with that strange, skittish new friend of his. Somehow, seeing him instantly brought back memories of her dream, and her expression mirrored the startled look on his face.

“Good morning, mom,” Yuugi greeted her cheerfully.

“Good morning, Yuugi,” Mrs. Mutou replied. “Good morning… Atem.”

(Why did his name feel so strange on her tongue, she wondered?)

Atem gave no response, only looked away.

The kitchen became quiet after that, perhaps uncomfortably so. Still, Mrs. Mutou paid it no mind as she went about making her breakfast.

“So… Got any plans for today?” she asked, trying to make conversation.

“Uh, sort of,” Yuugi answered. “We’re going to hang out with our friends today, but we still have to call and see what everyone wants to do, so I’m not sure yet where we’re going or when.”

Mrs. Mutou nodded. “Well, let me know when you get things sorted out, alright?”

“Yup, we will,” Yuugi promised. “Speaking of which- Atem, why don’t you call Anzu while I clean up breakfast?”

Atem nodded, and hopped out of his chair. Mrs. Mutou was surprised to see him walk right over to the kitchen phone, and dial Anzu’s number without any hesitation or confusion, as if he’d done so a dozen times before.

Atem glanced briefly back at Yuugi’s mother, but looked away just as quickly, waiting as the phone rang quietly in his ear.

_“Hello, Mazaki residence.”_

“Hi, Mrs. Mazaki, it’s-” Atem paused, suddenly realizing that Anzu’s mother had no idea who he was. “Uh…”

“Hi, Mrs. Mazaki!” Yuugi screamed from the background. Atem couldn’t help but laugh slightly at that.

“...May I talk to Anzu, please?” Atem finished his question.

_“Oh, sure,”_ Mrs. Mazaki replied. _“Hold on one minute, I’ll go get her.”_

Atem waited patiently, listening to the sound of muffled voices in the background as Mrs. Mazaki called for Anzu.

(It struck Mrs. Mutou as curious, the way Atem seemed to have said more over the brief course of this phone call than he’d said all throughout dinner. Why was it that he suddenly had no problem talking to Anzu’s mom, but when it came to the Mutous, he became so heartbreakingly shy and scared? Had she done something wrong? She hoped not. She’d have to ask Yuugi about it later, she decided.)

After a moment or two, Atem heard the telltale crackle of the phone receiver being picked up, and Anzu’s voice soon came through.

_“Hello?”_

“Hey, Anzu,” Atem greeted her, and found himself smiling at the sound of his friend’s voice. “Good morning.”

_“Hey, Atem! Welcome home!”_ Anzu replied cheerfully. _“How are you? Not too jet-lagged, are you?”_

“I’m, uh… Fine, I think..?” Atem answered, frowning in confusion; He still had embarrassingly little metric for what was normal and what wasn’t, as far as living went. “Um, Yuugi wanted me to ask you what you want to do today. Since we haven’t decided where to hang out yet. Any suggestions?”

_“Actually, yeah, I was thinking about that this morning,”_ Anzu recalled. _“It’s really nice out today, so I was thinking, maybe we could go to the park! I mean, if you guys would rather do something else, I’m fine with anything really,”_ she added. _“But it’s such a nice day, I figured it might be nice to spend some time outside this time instead of in the dark at the arcade, or whatever. Plus, I know you and Yuugi have been cooped up in that hotel room all week, so you really ought to get some fresh air and sunshine,”_ she pointed out, and Atem could hear just the slightest hint of that bossy, motherly tone she sometimes used when the boys were doing something stupid.

Atem paused for a few seconds to think about it, contemplating this suggestion. It was true that compared to the other settings he’d expected they might choose to hang out in (the arcade, the mall, Burger World, Yuugi’s house), the park sounded a lot less likely to be noisy and crowded, which was a hell of a bonus in his book. (Plus, Anzu probably had a point about spending time outside.)

“Sounds good to me,” Atem answered. “Let me ask Yuugi what he thinks.”

_“Sure.”_

Atem quietly put his hand over the receiver and turned over his shoulder, looking towards Yuugi. “Aibou.”

“Yeah?” Yuugi replied, glancing up.

“Anzu suggested maybe we could go to the park,” Atem relayed. “What do you think?”

“Oh, that sounds pretty nice, actually! We could have a picnic!” Yuugi decided, face lighting up in excitement.

Atem smiled, glad they were in agreement, and turned back around.

“He says that sounds nice,” he told Anzu. “Said we could make it a picnic.”

_“Great!”_

“What time should we meet up, then?” Atem asked.

_“Hmm… I guess around noon?”_ Anzu replied, waiting for confirmation. _“Is that ok with you guys?”_

Once again, Atem turned over his shoulder. “Is noon good?”

“Works for me,” Yuugi replied, shrugging.

“He says noon is fine,” Atem repeated for Anzu. “So we’ll see you in a little while, then?”

_“Great! We have to let the others know, right?”_ Anzu pointed out.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot,” Atem admitted, blinking in surprise.

Anzu laughed. _“Alright, how about I call Jounouchi and Honda, and you two call Bakura?”_ she suggested.

Atem nodded, out of sheer habit. “Sure. See you later, then.”

_“Yep! Bye, see you later!”_

“Bye.”

Atem yawned as he hung up the phone, and sat down in the chair next to Yuugi. 

“Anzu’s going to call Jounouchi-kun and Honda-kun to let them know what we’re doing,” he told Yuugi. “She wants us to call Bakura-kun.”

“Sounds good,” Yuugi said with a nod.

Mrs. Mutou glanced towards Yuugi and Atem as she made her breakfast. “How long do you think you’re going to be out?” she asked.

Atem stiffened, eyes widening as if he’d only just realized she was there.

“...Oh, I don’t know, a few hours I guess,” Yuugi replied, briefly glancing at Atem. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, it’s Saturday, so I think it would be nice if you spent some time with your father,” Mrs. Mutou explained. “He missed you while you were in Egypt, you know.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.”

Yuugi couldn’t help but find himself watching Atem with a worried expression, only half-listening to what his mother was saying. Atem had seemed so relaxed and optimistic mere moments ago, and yet just like that, his good mood had vanished- Now, he once again sat slouched over, gaze downturned, with sad eyes and a tense posture. It saddened Yuugi to see him like that, especially knowing what it was that had upset him; It hurt to know just how out of place and unwelcome Atem felt with his own family, but what could Yuugi do? He couldn’t just retroactively introduce Atem to his parents. The only thing that could solve this problem was time.

...Well, if Yuugi couldn’t help Atem feel comfortable around his family, at the very least he could help him to not be _un_ comfortable.

“...We both should probably shower before we leave,” Yuugi began hesitantly. “How about I call Bakura-kun, and you go shower in the meantime?”

Atem didn’t respond.

Yuugi furrowed his brow in concern. “Atem?”

Atem blinked, seemingly a bit startled. “Hm? Oh, yeah,” he muttered, giving a small nod. “Sorry, I… Forgot to talk.”

Yuugi frowned worriedly, and almost started to ask if Atem was alright- But thought the better of it, glancing over at his mother. Instead, he gave no comment; He simply watched as Atem crept out of the kitchen and up the stairs, with a dejected posture.

Yuugi wondered how long things were going to stay like this.

* * *

Atem didn’t even realize how long he’d been in the shower, until Yuugi had started knocking on the door, complaining that he needed to hurry up. Apparently, though it had only felt like a few minutes, Atem had spent nearly half an hour- Well, mostly just kind of staring blankly at the bathroom wall, if he was being honest with himself. He blamed the water.

Nonetheless, he and Yuugi eventually found themselves at the door, ready to head out for the day. 

Now that they were home, Atem had access to Yuugi’s whole wardrobe, giving him a much wider variety of clothes to choose from. He’d settled on a pair of black leather pants (naturally), a black shirt with torn sleeves, black boots, and a number of accessories, including the Millennium Puzzle. The outfit, he found, helped with his self-confidence; Were the pants comfortable? No, but hell if he didn’t look pretty damn good. It was exciting to think that this was _his_ body that he got to decorate so beautifully. Maybe people would even compliment him on it. _Cool arm cuff,_ they would say, and he would answer, _Thank you! It’s mine. I’m wearing it. This is my arm. I like my arm, I think. It’s mine._

(The arm cuff, of course, had been a gift from his late mother, to celebrate his coming of age. Wearing it had become something of a habit for him, back when he’d still been alive.)

Atem and Yuugi waved a quick goodbye to Grandpa- Busy with some customers, as was usual for a Saturday afternoon- And stepped out of the shop, where they found Anzu waiting for them.

“Hey guys!” Anzu greeted them cheerfully, with a grin and an enthusiastic wave. “Good to see you!”

“Hey, Anzu,” Yuugi and Atem replied in chorus.

Anzu blinked, startled by their eerie synchronization. “Woah, that was kinda freaky,” she commented with a slight laugh.

Yuugi laughed as well, and shrugged. “Sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Anzu assured him with a smile, as they began walking. “It’s kinda cool, actually. Does that happen to you guys often?”

Yuugi and Atem exchanged glances, thinking about this question.

“...Eh, not really,” Yuugi concluded, shrugging. “It happens sometimes, but not on a super frequent basis, I don’t think.”

“Honestly, I think it’s probably more because of our behavior than anything,” Atem added in thoughtfully. “It’s not some sort of telepathy thing- At least, I don’t think it is? I don’t know, but I think it’s mostly just because we have similar speech patterns and ways of thinking,” he explained. “I don’t think we usually say long sentences the same way at the same time, but something like ‘hello’ is pretty standard for both of us, I think.”

Anzu gave a thoughtful hum. “Yeah, that makes sense, I guess.”

“Oh, by the way, Anzu- If you don’t mind, we need to stop at a convenience store on the way,” Yuugi suddenly remembered. “Atem and I need to buy lunch.”

“Sure, that’s fine,” Anzu confirmed with a nod. 

The trio walked in a comfortable silence for a minute or two, enjoying the sunshine and each others’ company.

“I’m glad you two are back,” Anzu said after a while. “School felt too quiet without you. This week feels like it’s gone on for a month,” she added with a laugh.

“It sure does,” Yuugi sighed.

“To me, it feels like it was only an hour, but also a year,” Atem admitted. “I think maybe my sense of time is a little messed up, considering… You know.”

A sad look crossed Anzu’s face at the implications, but she decided not to comment, choosing instead to change the subject. “I hope you’ll hang out with us more now that you have your own body, Atem,” she said sincerely.

Atem nodded. “Well, of course. It’s not like I’m going to suddenly start avoiding everyone,” he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, no, but you’re so shy I wasn’t sure if you’d like to,” Anzu admitted. 

Atem blinked, surprised by this assessment. “I am?”

“Yes,” Yuugi and Anzu both responded immediately.

Atem fell quiet, staring at the sidewalk in front of him with a blank, dumbfounded expression, as if this were a revelation to him.

“...I’m shy?” he repeated in confusion, looking to Yuugi for confirmation.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. “I mean, it always took me hours to convince you to play arcade games for like twenty minutes, and the only time you ever actively spent time with someone on your own was when I switched on you without telling you. You make Bakura-kun and Hanasaki-kun look like extroverts.”

“Yeah, you never seemed to want to come out unless it was to duel, so I always assumed it was because you were afraid of people,” Anzu added. “That’s like, textbook shy.”

“Oh,” Atem said, frowning slightly. “I… I guess I see what you mean.”

For a while, Atem didn’t say anything, staring down at his feet with a puzzled expression, contemplating this new knowledge.

“...It’s not that I was… Afraid of people, per se,” he admitted after a moment, slow and thoughtful. “It’s just that… Well, I’m not sure how to put into words exactly, but my situation just made things awkward,” he explained. “I mean, I knew you guys were my friends and I didn’t think you would have minded talking to me outside duels, but it was just… Weird, being Yuugi but also _not_ Yuugi. I didn’t know what people expected of me, or what I should do. I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries, either, even if Yuugi was ok with it,” he recalled with a frown.

“That’s still being shy, though,” Yuugi insisted.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“You didn’t like to talk to people because you weren’t sure how to, and you worried that you might do something wrong and get a negative outcome. That’s being shy,” Yuugi explained.

“Yeah, I agree,” Anzu added with a nod. 

“Hmm… If you say so,” Atem said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Still, hopefully things ought to be better now that I’m a person,” he added with an optimistic grin.

Anzu gave a worried frown. “Atem, you’ve _always_ been a person,” she reminded him, as they approached a convenience store.

“I guess,” Atem replied, shrugging- Though he didn’t sound terribly convinced, nor terribly concerned either. He simply followed Yuugi and Anzu into the store, hands in his pockets.

As Yuugi chose his lunch, Anzu wandered idly towards the manga shelf. Atem found himself following her, more interested in manga than food; He glanced curiously over the titles, wondering if he’d missed anything new while they’d been in Egypt. 

“Ready to go?” Yuugi asked after some time.

Atem nodded. “Sure.”

“Where’s your lunch?” Yuugi wondered, frowning slightly as he glanced down at Atem’s empty hands.

Atem stared at Yuugi.

“...Oh, right,” Atem said after an unusually long pause.

Anzu raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly in amusement. “Not hungry?” she guessed.

Atem stared down at his stomach for a moment, frowning in thought. “I don’t know.”

The more the day progressed, the more Anzu’s expressions towards Atem seemed to drift between concerned and disappointed.

Yuugi sighed, and shook his head in disbelief. “Anyway. What do you want for lunch?”

“I’ll have… uh…” Atem trailed off, tilting his head and staring blankly into the distance as he suddenly realized he had no idea what he wanted. What foods did he like? What foods even existed? He knew there was, uh, what… bread… hummus… rice… muffins? Some sort of soup..? He had eaten so little over the short week he’d been alive, he found himself struggling to even think of what sort of things humans normally ate. And of the few things he could recall actually tolerating, few of them sounded like acceptable meals, and fewer still was he reasonably confident were sold at your average konbini.

“...I think I would like chips,” he decided after a moment, nodding.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. “You can’t have chips for lunch,” he informed Atem.

“Please?” Atem tried.

“No, chips are just starch. You need to have some nutrition,” Yuugi insisted.

Atem’s face fell in disappointment; He glanced at Anzu (still perusing the manga), and then stepped slightly closer to Yuugi, leaning towards him.

“I don’t know what I can eat,” he whispered to Yuugi. “I’m- I’m worried if I try something new, I’ll have a bad reaction in front of everyone. Please, can I just have chips?”

Yuugi bit his lip and sighed. “I’d like to say yes, but… If you just eat chips, you’re going to wind up with low blood sugar and feel horrible later. Isn’t there anything you can have that’s more substantial?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I can tolerate and what I can’t,” Atem admitted quietly.

Yuugi frowned, and paused for a moment, trying to think of foods that Atem might like.

“...How about a sandwich?” he suggested, after some thought. “I mean, you like bread, and there aren’t a ton of textures involved… How about it?”

Atem shrugged, and Yuugi took this as a yes.

With that, Yuugi grabbed a simple chicken sandwich, and got in line at the register. After a short wait, the group was off again, and it didn’t take long for them to reach the park.

“Yo!” Jounouchi called out, waving excitedly as he spotted them. 

“Hey guys!” Yuugi greeted Jounouchi and Honda with a grin. Atem and Anzu shared similar greetings in turn.

“Welcome back, you two! Glad you made it home alright,” Honda said, giving Yuugi a friendly pat on the back.

Yuugi nodded. “Yeah, I’m glad to be home.”

“...Hugs?” Jounouchi questioned, shooting Atem a hopeful yet uncertain glance.

Atem paused for a brief moment, and then smiled, nodding in confirmation. “Sure.”

Jounouchi beamed, and immediately pulled Atem into a close hug, wrapping his arms all the way around Atem’s body and wiggling slightly with happy, affectionate energy.

“Ow, ow, you’re crushing me,” Atem grunted, squirming under Jounouchi’s overly enthusiastic grip.

“Oops! Sorry, are you ok?” Jounouchi gasped, quickly letting Atem go.

Atem nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine, just… Don’t squeeze so much next time, alright?” he said, smiling reassuringly; Just to make it clear that he wasn’t angry, he leaned back in to give Jounouchi a gentle hug of his own.

“Hey, I want hugs too!” Honda exclaimed, pouting slightly.

“Yeah, me too, me too!” Yuugi agreed, bouncing up and down on his toes.

“Alright, hugs for everybody,” Atem laughed.

A long, warm exchange of affectionate hugs soon started, everyone making sure they hugged everyone else- Even if they’d seen each other just moments ago. 

“You don’t mind being squished, do you, Yuugi?” Jounouchi recalled. 

“Nope!” Yuugi replied cheerfully.

Jounouchi grinned, and with that, he squeezed Yuugi tight and lifted him up off the ground.

Yuugi laughed as he wiggled his feet in the air. “Whee!”

“Hey, come to think of it,” Anzu interrupted as Jounouchi lowered Yuugi to the ground, “Where’s Bakura? He’s missing out on all the hugs.”

“I dunno,” Jounouchi replied, shrugging. “I guess he’s running late.”

Honda frowned slightly. “You know, every time Bakura goes missing, it’s never a good sign…” he muttered in a low tone. 

The group fell quiet, glancing around in search of their friend and recalling previous… Incidents.

“...W-Well, I mean, he’s not possessed anymore, so- Oh! There he is!” Yuugi suddenly exclaimed, pointing.

Sure enough, there was Bakura, red-faced and out of breath as he sprinted towards the rest of the group. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he gasped, leaning against a tree as he tried to catch his breath. “I got lost…”

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow at Bakura’s condition. “Dude, are you ok?”

“I’m not exactly high constitution,” Bakura grumbled, sighing deeply. 

“Want a hug?” Yuugi suggested cheerfully.

Bakura looked confused for a moment, not entirely sure what one had to do with the other, but nodded nonetheless. “Sure!”

As Bakura enjoyed his turn on the hug-fest, Anzu reached into her tote bag, pulling out a neatly folded cloth.

“I brought a picnic blanket,” she announced. “Do you guys want to set it up here, or should we find a better spot?”

“How about over by those trees?” Honda suggested, pointing towards a nearby pair of trees.

“That looks good,” Yuugi agreed.

With that, the group headed over to the trees in question. Honda and Atem wordlessly pitched in to help Anzu with the blanket, always inclined to be helpful, and the three of them made quick work of spreading it out on the ground. Honda’s geographic sense turned out to be quite trustworthy; The ground was relatively flat and dry, and the trees provided broad, cool shade. 

“It sure is a nice day today,” Yuugi said as he began unpacking his lunch, along with the others. “It’s nice to spend time outside once in a while.”

“I’m impressed you guys managed to convince Bakura to come out of his vampire cave,” Honda commented sarcastically.

“Hey!” Bakura exclaimed, pouting in irritation.

Jounouchi gave a snort of disbelief. “Come on, Honda. That’s just rude. Everyone knows vampires live in horribly impractically designed castles, not caves,” he added teasingly.

Bakura rolled his eyes and gave an offended huff. “Look, I’d be perfectly happy to spend more time outside if it weren’t so boring,” he insisted. “There’s just nothing to do outside if you’re not interested in sports. I’d rather stay inside and work on my models, or watch TV or something.” With that, he took a bite of takoyaki.

“Well, you can always bring a book outside,” Yuugi pointed out. 

“It’s important to make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D, or else you’ll get depressed and sickly,” Anzu added matter-of-factly.

Bakura gave no reply, but rolled his eyes once again. 

“Anyway, outside doesn’t always have to be boring, even if you’re not into sports,” Anzu continued a bit more gently, with a reassuring smile. “I actually brought some stuff we can all play with, if anyone wants to.”

“What’d you bring?” Yuugi asked curiously.

“Sidewalk chalk, a jump rope, and bubbles,” she answered.

_“Bubbles!”_ Yuugi and Jounouchi both exclaimed at the same time, eyes widening in excitement.

Anzu blinked, startled. “Well then.”

“Hang on, no bubbles until everyone’s finished eating,” Honda warned. “I don’t need soap in my sushi.”

“Aw shit, we gotta eat fast,” Jounouchi gasped, and promptly began shoveling rice into his face at a less-than-polite rate. 

Atem, meanwhile, was doing the exact opposite of eating quickly. He picked at his sandwich in tiny bites, though he wished he could have thrown it away; He’d already removed the salad, sliding it stealthily into the empty paper bag, but still… The bread was too soft and mushy for his tastes, the whole thing was slimy from the tomatoes, and the chicken felt perplexingly strange at such a cold temperature. He shuddered as he swallowed another bite, much to his mouth’s protests.

“Alright, everybody done?” Jounouchi asked, after a few minutes of inhaling his food. 

“Atem’s still eating,” Yuugi answered for him, just as Atem had opened his mouth to reply. 

Atem pouted slightly; Terrible though he knew it was, he’d been hoping to use Jounouchi’s impatience as an excuse to throw away the rest of his sandwich. Yuugi, however, knew him all too well, and had evidently predicted this strategy before Atem could employ it. 

“C’mon, man, hurry up,” Jounouchi complained to Atem. 

Anzu frowned and elbowed Jounouchi roughly in the side. “Don’t rush him!”

“Alright, alright!”

Atem raised an eyebrow at his friends’ bickering, but nonetheless took another bite of his sandwich. He quickly choked down one, two, three more bites, before declaring, “Done.”

Yuugi glanced briefly at the third or so of the sandwich that remained uneaten, but said nothing, giving Atem an understanding nod.

As soon as lunch had been properly cleaned up, all garbage disposed of appropriately, Anzu reached into her bag and pulled out a large jar of bubbles. She unscrewed the lid, pulled out the wand, and tapped off the excess soap; Finally, she blew a gentle stream of bubbles into the air, pursing her lips and blowing slowly, carefully, gracefully-

“I got one!” Jounouchi screamed as he snapped his teeth shut on a bubble.

“Dude! Don’t _eat them!”_ Honda blurted out, frowning and raising an eyebrow in sheer disbelief.

“Why not? They’re non-toxic,” Jounouchi replied, waving a hand dismissively. “Here, check this out.”

The others watched, with a mixture of amusement, disdain, and bafflement, as Jounouchi stuck out his tongue, letting a bubble land carefully on top of it. He giggled, and the bubble popped with the sudden disturbance.

“Woah, I want to try,” Yuugi gasped, and stuck his tongue out as well.

Honda smacked a hand against his forehead.

“Can I try blowing a few?” Bakura asked, pointing politely to the jar, as the others continued to chase after the bubbles Anzu sent showering into the air.

“Sure, go ahead!” Anzu replied, and handed the jar and the wand to Bakura.

Atem watched as the bubbles floated through the air, around the group and up into the sky; He reached out for one curiously, feeling a light touch as it popped on his finger.

It was… Nice, he thought; Maybe some might see it as immature or shameful for high schoolers to be chasing bubbles, but it was things precisely like blowing bubbles- Small, ordinary aspects of modern childhood- That Atem had never gotten to experience for himself.

Still, after a while, the excitement died down. As the group gradually lost interest, and Anzu put the jar back into her bag, Jounouchi crouched down near the battered old duffle bag he’d brought with him.

“I brought some stuff to play with, too,” he announced.

“What kind of stuff?” Atem wondered.

Jounouchi grinned, and unzipped the bag; The others watched curiously as he rummaged around inside it, and pulled out an old baseball bat.

Atem gave a cheerful clap, face lighting up in excitement. “Oh! Are we going to fight?” he guessed.

“What? No, no! Nothing like that!” Jounouchi insisted, shaking his head in denial and frowning worriedly. “I brought stuff to play baseball, you sicko.”

Atem’s excitement quickly fell to disappointment. “Oh. Right. Well, that’s fun too, I guess.”

Bakura raised an eyebrow at Atem for a brief moment, and then sighed. “Well, you guys can play. I’ll sit out.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to play, Bakura?” Anzu asked, giving him a look somewhere between sympathy and disappointment.

“I’m sure,” Bakura replied. “I’m just not good at physical stuff. I’m so uncoordinated, and I get tired so quickly…” He sighed, shaking his head.

“I get that,” Yuugi said with a slow nod. “I’m not very athletic either.”

Jounouchi gave Yuugi and Bakura a sympathetic look. “Hey, don’t worry about it, we can make it fun for you guys too! I mean, of course you hate sports, with the way fuckin’ Karita-sensei coaches,” he said, rolling his eyes and scowling in distaste. “But you don’t have to be an athlete to play a little ball in the park with friends. The point is to, you know, have fun, whatever that means for you,” he pointed out.

“I think Jounouchi’s right,” Anzu agreed. “We can just play a nice, easy game, no pressure. And if there’s a particular part you don’t want to do, you don’t have to,” she promised with a smile.

“Yeah, and we can help you get better at it, too,” Honda added.

Bakura and Yuugi exchanged glances, debating how to respond.

“Come on,” Jounouchi persisted, with a pleading, hopeful tone. “It’ll be fun! After all, baseball speaks to two of humanity’s deepest urges: Throwing things, and hitting things with sticks,” he said with a wise nod.

“I have a suggestion,” Atem announced, raising his hand.

“Yeah?”

“What if… We soak the ball in kerosene, and then-”

“No,” Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, and Yuugi all responded, before Atem could even finish his sentence.

Atem pouted slightly. 

The conversation continued on as if it had never been interrupted, ignoring Atem’s terrible ideas. “I’ll play,” Yuugi decided.

Jounouchi grinned. “Great! What about you, Bakura?”

Bakura frowned slightly for a moment, seemingly still thinking it over. “I… Guess I can try it,” he gave in- Though he still sounded uncertain.

“If you decide you don’t like it after all, you can always just watch,” Anzu assured him as she began tidying up. “Come on, let’s head to the baseball field.”

Yuugi helped Anzu fold up the picnic blanket, while Jounouchi and Honda began leading the way over to the park’s small baseball field, not far from where they were.

“Alright, you’ll have to teach me how to play,” Bakura informed the group, upon reaching the batting cage. “I don’t know what the rules of baseball are.”

“Well, there’s a lot of different rules about scoring and stuff like that, but the basic concept is pretty simple,” Jounouchi began, as he bent over to pull a variety of equipment out of the old gym bag. “Each team alternates either batting, or pitching and catching. Normally you’d have nine players to a team, but there’s only six of us, so we’ll have to do teams of three instead.”

“You’re supposed to score points by hitting the ball as far as you can, right?” Yuugi recalled.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, and shook his head. “I mean, kind of, I guess? But also no.”

Yuugi and Bakura looked confused, to say the least. (Atem didn’t seem to react, but Yuugi caught a hint of mild surprise on his face, though he tried to hide it.)

“Basically, the goal isn’t necessarily to hit the ball super far- It’s to run as far around the bases as you can without getting tagged out,” Honda clarified, taking over the explanation for Jounouchi. “Whoever’s batting tries to hit the ball, and when they do, they drop the bat and start running. When the ball gets caught, or when the runner is tagged, they’re out. Obviously, the farther the ball goes, the more time it’ll take for someone to catch it, so hitting it far is helpful, yeah. But the hits themselves aren’t what score points,” he explained.

Yuugi, Bakura, and Atem listened patiently as Honda and Jounouchi explained the basics of baseball, with occasional input from Anzu- Or, to be more precise, they listened patiently until the “explanation” devolved into arguing over the nuances of certain rulings, at which point Anzu could see their eyes glazing over with confusion and boredom.

“Look, it’s easier to understand by playing than by listening to the rules,” she interrupted after a few minutes, sighing and speaking loudly to get Honda and Jounouchi’s attention. “Let’s just start, and we can explain things as we go.”

“Fair enough,” Honda replied, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “How are we going to divide up the teams?”

“Hmm…” Jounouchi put a hand on his hip, staring at each of his friends in turn as he contemplated their strengths and weaknesses. “Well, you and I know more about baseball than everyone else-”

“Suuuure you do,” Anzu commented sarcastically.

Jounouchi frowned. “Alright, fine. You, me, and _Anzu_ know more about baseball than the others, so I’d say each team should have one of us on it,” he continued, correcting himself. “After that, probably best to split up by height- So Yuugi, Atem, you guys would be on different teams,” he explained.

Atem and Yuugi both nodded. “Alright,” Atem answered.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Anzu agreed.

Honda surveyed the group as well, nodding in confirmation at Jounouchi’s suggestion. “Alright, who wants to be on what team?”

“I wanna be on Anzu’s team!” Yuugi decided. “Is that ok?”

“Fine with me,” Anzu confirmed.

“Then that means Atem and Bakura will be on the other team, since Bakura is closest to Anzu in height,” Jounouchi announced, pointing to each of them in turn and gesturing as he spoke. “I guess I’ll take their team, then. Is that cool with everyone?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Honda replied with a nod. “Probably best that way anyway, since Yuugi and Bakura are still kind of iffy on it- This way, if they both quit, nobody’s going to be left on a one-man team.”

Anzu nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s a good point.”

“Works for me,” Atem said, shrugging.

“Alright, let’s line up, then,” Jounouchi announced. “Who’s batting first?”

“Why don’t we flip a coin for it?” Anzu suggested.

As the others nodded, Honda wordlessly took a coin out of his pocket, balancing it on his thumb. “Alright, let’s say heads is Jounouchi’s team, and-”

“Wait!” Yuugi suddenly interrupted, holding up his hand.

The others looked to him expectantly, wondering what could be so urgent.

“...We need team names,” Yuugi said, nodding solemnly.

“Oh man, we do,” Anzu gasped, as the others gave various murmurs of agreement. “Any ideas?”

An air of puzzlement fell over the group, each player frowning in concentration as they tried to think up a worthy name for their teams. They split off into individual groups to discuss their ideas; After several minutes, and some intense debate, a consensus was finally reached, and both teams regrouped together to share their decisions.

“Our team is called Team Victory,” Honda announced. Yuugi and Anzu nodded, smiling proudly.

Jounouchi gave a snort of disbelief. “Pssh, that’s boring.”

“Oh yeah? What’d you name your team, then?” Honda wondered, raising an eyebrow.

“Team Ultra Neo Dark Necrofire,” Jounouchi replied, holding his head high and grinning with pride.

Team Victory fell silent.

“...Wow. I don’t even know what to say to that,” Anzu admitted, her voice quiet and devoid of emotion.

“I do: It’s terrible,” Honda decided.

Jounouchi huffed. “Hey! We put a lot of thought into that name, you know!”

“Yeah, I think it’s great!” Bakura agreed, frowning at Honda.

Yuugi gave an awkward, forced smile. “I-I mean… ‘Necrofire’ is kinda cool, but… um… It’s kind of a lot,” he said with an apologetic tone, and a slight nervous laugh.

“Well maybe you guys are just cowards,” Jounouchi insisted, scowling and crossing his arms.

Anzu sighed. “Whatever. Let’s just flip the coin.”

The group gathered in a circle as Honda brought out the coin once again, all watching with bated breath for the flip.

“Heads, Team Dark-Ultra-Necro-Whatever bats first,” Honda declared. “Tails, Team Victory bats first.”

With a flick of Honda’s thumb, the coin sailed into the air; Honda caught it on the back of his hand, and lifted his other hand away to reveal the result.

“Tails. Our team’s going first.”

With that, the two teams separated; Anzu grabbed the old metal baseball bat from the bag, while Jounouchi took the two battered, cracked catcher’s mitts and the ball.

“Alright, let’s figure out who’s doing what,” Jounouchi told Atem and Bakura, as they walked towards the pitcher’s plate. “Are you guys better at pitching, or catching?”

Bakura and Atem gave both their answers at the same time.

“Terrible at both of them, unfortunately.”

“I think I would be fairly decent at both, probably.”

Jounouchi’s face fell to a peeved frown, as he sighed and slumped over slightly; He clearly had his work cut out for him.

“...Ok, how about this: Bakura, you’re a terrible runner, so you can pitch. I’ll play outfield, and Atem, you have short legs so you get to be shortstop,” he decided, tossing Atem a glove.

Atem raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.

“So all I have to do is throw the ball at whoever’s batting, right?” Bakura asked.

Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. Just make sure you aim, like, past them, not _at_ them.”

“Right. Got it.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Atem wondered. 

“You’re shortstop, so in other words, you’re a catcher,” Jounouchi explained. “If the ball goes right towards you, you can try to catch it- Otherwise, don’t worry about it, I’ll get it. If you catch the ball, or if I throw it to you, use it to tag out whoever’s running the bases.”

“Alright.” Atem paused, frowning for a moment at the oversized glove in his hand. “Do I… _Have_ to wear this?”

Jounouchi gave an uncertain handwave. “I guess you don’t have to, but it’d be a lot harder to catch the ball without it, especially if it rolls,” he pointed out.

“It’s a little bit… um…”

Atem slipped his hand inside the glove, wiggling his fingers. His fingers barely reached even a third of the way into the “fingers” of the glove, while the opening sat several centimeters up his wrist.

Jounouchi stifled a laugh, raising an eyebrow in amusement. “God, you really do have tiny hands, huh,” he realized, shaking his head at the sight of it. “I guess just… Do your best? If it doesn’t work out for you, you can always take it off.”

Atem nodded. “Alright.”

“Oh, one last thing- If the ball goes low, you’re best off catching it like this.” Jounouchi crouched down slightly, holding his hand low so the top of the mitt touched the ground. “Put your other hand in front, and then grab the ball when it rolls in.”

“Got it,” Atem confirmed. “Is it time to start, then?”

Jounouchi glanced over towards the batting cage, where Honda and Anzu were gently coaching Yuugi as he practiced batting- Awkward and cumbersome, his stance off, his bat far too long for his body.

“Hey! You guys almost ready?” Jounouchi shouted towards the other team.

“Yeah, just a minute,” Honda called back.

As Team Ultra Neo Dark Necrofire walked to their respective field positions, Honda and Anzu gave Yuugi a few last words of advice, and then assumed batting order.

“Ready?” Bakura asked Anzu, holding the ball at the ready.

“Go ahead,” Anzu replied. 

Bakura took a deep breath, drew back his arm, and with a loose swing, he threw the ball as hard as he could.

The ball flew off towards his left, nowhere near the batting plate.

“Yay, I got a strike!” Bakura cheered, oblivious to the looks on his friends’ faces.

“Er… N-Not quite,” Anzu told him gently, with an awkward smile. “It’s only a strike if it actually goes over home plate. You threw it too far to the left to qualify.”

Bakura’s face fell. “Oh. Oops.”

“Did Jounouchi not show you how to throw?” Honda shouted from behind the batting cage, raising an eyebrow.

Jounouchi gasped. “Shit, you’re right, I forgot!” he realized.

Jounouchi hurried back towards the pitcher’s plate, as the others shook their heads in dismay; After a few minutes of hasty instruction, Bakura was ready to try again- Or at least, sort of ready. So they all hoped, anyway.

“Alright, here I go,” Bakura announced, as he made his second throw.

This time, the ball at least made it towards Anzu’s general direction, through it wasn’t a terribly outstanding pitch. Anzu just barely hit it with the tip of the bat, and the ball bounced gently to the side of the batting cage.

“Foul,” Honda called.

“That wasn’t bad!” Anzu told Bakura with a nod and a smile, as she retrieved the ball. “Here, try again. Make sure you keep your eyes where you’re throwing this time,” she said, as she tossed the ball back to him.

Bakura nodded, and the two teams once again prepared to play.

Anzu let the ball sail past her this time, opting not to swing. 

“Strike?” Jounouchi shouted, squinting to see where the ball had gone. 

“Strike,” Honda confirmed. “That makes strike one.”

“I’m sorry!” Ryou apologized, a worried look on his face.

Anzu frowned as she tossed the ball back to him. “What are you apologizing for? I’m the one who didn’t swing,” she pointed out.

“Bakura-kun, you’re the pitcher. Your entire job is to get the batter to strike out,” Atem reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Bakura gasped. “Alright then, ready?”

“Ready!”

This time, Anzu got in a decent hit, prompting cheers from the rest of the group. Atem watched as the ball flew up into the air, past the infield, and right into Jounouchi’s open hand- But by the time he’d caught the ball, Anzu had already come to a quick stop at first base.

“Safe!”

“Nice hit, Anzu,” Bakura complimented her with a smile, as Jounouchi tossed the ball to Atem.

“Thanks! Your pitch was pretty good, too,” Anzu replied. 

Bakura grinned, and readied himself for the next throw.

Yuugi stepped up to the plate, taking a hesitant, uncertain stance. He glanced briefly back at Honda, as if looking for-

“Yuugi! Stop sticking your butt out!” Jounouchi shouted.

“I’m not!” Yuugi insisted.

“Yeah you are!”

“You are,” Atem admitted, giving Yuugi an apologetic look.

Yuugi huffed in irritation. “You guys said I didn’t _have_ to be good at baseball!” he reminded them, slightly bitterly.

Jounouchi blinked. “Oh… Yeah, I guess that’s fair,” he realized. “Sorry, Yuugi. I didn’t mean to pick on you.”

“Do you want help fixing your stance?” Honda suggested. 

Yuugi hesitated for a moment, before giving a sheepish nod.

Honda gave Yuugi a reassuring smile. “Keep your feet lined up with the plate like I showed you, and relax your shoulders more,” he said, nodding towards Yuugi.

Yuugi smiled back. “Thanks.”

“...And don’t stick your butt out,” Honda finished.

Yuugi rolled his eyes slightly, but nonetheless adjusted his stance as told.

“Ok, I think I’m ready.”

Bakura nodded, and threw the ball; Yuugi swung the bat, but failed to hit, swinging just too low to hit the ball.

“Strike one,” Honda called. 

“Aww, darn,” Yuugi mumbled.

“It’s ok! Keep trying, you’ve got two more,” Honda reminded him, with an encouraging thumbs-up.

Yuugi smiled, and nodded in response as he readied himself for the next pitch.

Bakura gave the throw, and once again. Yuugi missed. 

“That one looked like a ball,” Anzu noted. 

“Yeah, that’s a ball,” Honda confirmed with a nod.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “I mean, yeah, I should hope it looks like a ball…” he said sarcastically, frowning in confusion. 

Anzu laughed. “A ‘ball’ is what it’s called when the pitcher throws the ball, but it doesn’t go into the strike zone,” she explained. 

“The strike zone is everything above that square around home plate,” Honda clarified, shrugging. 

“Oh… I see. Weird name, but alright,” Atem replied with a nod.

With that, Bakura threw the ball once more.

“Strike two!”

Bakura threw it again.

“Strike three! Good try, Yuugi, but you’re out,” Honda announced. 

“Aw, oh well,” Yuugi said, though he didn’t sound too hurt. “Sorry, guys.”

“Hey, it’s cool! Remember, it doesn’t matter who wins or who loses as long as everyone has fun,” Honda pointed out with a reassuring smile. 

“Better luck next time, Yuugi!” Anzu called as Yuugi switched places with Honda.

Contrary to Yuugi’s best attempts, Honda had no trouble hitting the ball. The bat collided with the ball with a loud crack, sending the ball flying towards the right side of the field- And the next thing Atem knew, everything was happening all at once, as Jounouchi ran for the ball and Anzu Honda took off around the bases.

“Atem!” Jounouchi shouted, as he threw the ball towards him, just as Honda approached second base. “Get him out!”

Atem caught the ball right on cue- Fumbling slightly as it was stopped only by the leather of the oversized glove, not by his grip- And didn’t waste a second before beaning it towards Honda as hard as he could. 

Honda’s eyes widened, and he ducked out of the way, diving for third base just in time for the ball to hurtle past his head.

“Atem! What the hell, man?! Are you trying to kill me?!” He shrieked.

Atem blinked. “What? Jounouchi said I was supposed to get you out.”

“Yeah, out as in out of the _game,_ not as in _unconscious!”_ Jounouchi retorted, gesturing in disbelief.

“I wasn’t _trying_ to knock him out,” Atem huffed. 

Jounouchi sighed. “Look, when you ‘tag someone out’, that just means you run up and touch them with the ball, ok? You don’t throw it at them,” he clarified, and then shook his head, muttering under his breath. “Fucking christ… Alright, that’s one point for Team Victory,” he called out.

“Yay!” Yuugi cheered, as Anzu stepped up to bat a second time.

The game continued in much the same manner, until Team Victory struck out three times (two of which, of course, were Yuugi). Atem waved to Yuugi as they switched positions.

“Alright, what’s our batting order?” Jounouchi wondered.

Atem and Bakura exchanged glances.

“Why don’t you go first? That way, we can see how it’s done,” Bakura suggested.

Jounouchi nodded. “Sure, that’s a fair idea. Who wants to go second, then?”

“I’ll go last,” Atem decided.

With that, Jounouchi stepped up to the plate, while Atem and Bakura lined up by the side of the batting cage, watching him carefully.

“Alright, come at me,” Jounouchi called out, grinning as he readied his bat.

If Jounouchi’s smile was cocky, Honda’s was downright malevolent. He threw the ball with almost mechanical skill, fast and direct, right over home plate.

“Strike one!” Anzu announced.

Jounouchi grit his teeth. “Shit.”

“And here comes strike two,” Honda said with a grin, catching the ball Jounouchi tossed to him.

“Aw, shut up! Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Jounouchi retorted.

Honda shrugged, feigning innocence, and threw the ball once again.

And, once again, Jounouchi missed.

“Strike two!”

“See? You don’t stand a chance against me,” Honda insisted.

Jounouchi took a deep breath. “I’m gonna kick your ass,” he announced.

“Well, you’re welcome to try!”

Honda threw the third ball, and this time- Perhaps motivated by his spite- Jounouchi hit it. Atem and Bakura cheered as Jounouchi dropped the bat and ran, stopping on first base just in time to avoid a tag from Anzu.

Honda blinked in surprise. “Alright, guess I stand corrected,” he said calmly.

“Damn right you do!” Jounouchi laughed, throwing up a victory sign. “...Of course, I’m… Also the only one on our team who’s actually decent at baseball…” he muttered, slouching over in disappointment as he realized how very screwed Team Ultra Neo Dark Necrofire was.

“Good luck, Bakura-kun!” Yuugi shouted cheerfully as Bakura picked up the bat.

Atem watched, disappointed but not surprised, as Bakura missed once, twice, three times. He frowned, squinting at the ball; He couldn’t entirely say for certain from where he stood, but it seemed that Honda’s throws had a tendency to drift towards left field.

“Strike three! Batter out,” Anzu called, holding up three fingers. “Looks like you’re up, Atem!”

Atem took a deep breath, and took the bat from Bakura as he walked back out of the batting cage. Stepping up to the plate, Atem carefully adjusted his stance as Jounouchi had demonstrated earlier- Feet shoulder-width apart, weight centered, knees bent, hands back- And waited for the pitch.

The ball left Honda’s fingers with a _whoosh,_ and Atem swung, wobbling slightly with the unbalanced weight of the far-too-big bat. The ball hit the back of the batting cage, bouncing back and rolling to a stop near his feet.

“Strike one.”

Atem didn’t let the miss bother him too much- He’d mostly expected to miss, as it was his first try, after all. Interestingly, he noticed that the ball did indeed seem to veer left slightly; Perhaps, he thought, it was time to test his hypothesis.

Honda threw the ball once again, and this time, Atem swung more towards the left. A narrow miss.

“Strike two!” Anzu repeated.

“What’s with that face?” Honda teased, raising an eyebrow at Atem’s confident smirk. “You’ve only got one more shot. You’re toast.”

Atem gave a snort of amusement, still with a smug look. “That’s what you think, but your lucky streak ends here,” he announced. “I’ve found a way to counterattack your balls!”

Atem’s eyes widened the second the words left his lips, realizing what he’s said- But it was too late to take it back. The serious air of the game vanished in an instant, as everyone who’d heard couldn’t help but giggle.

“You’ve _what?!”_ Honda gasped, doubling over with laughter. “You’re- You’re countering my what?!”

Atem gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth. “Wait, no, I- Fuck, that came out way wrong, oh my god,” he laughed.

“He’s counterattacking your balls, Honda!” Jounouchi shouted from first base, looking almost as if he was about to fall over.

“Shut up! I didn’t mean to say it like that!” Atem insisted, nearly dropping the bat as he laughed, red-faced from a combination of embarrassment and laughter.

“Watch out, Honda-kun!” Yuugi exclaimed, between overwhelming giggles.

Anzu shook her head in disbelief. “You guys are terrible!” she shouted from the outfield- Though even she couldn’t hide her amusement.

“I’m honestly kind of impressed we made it this far without a ball joke,” Bakura admitted.

It took several minutes before the joke wore off, and the players readied themselves to continue the game (albeit not without the occasional muffled snicker). Atem kept his eye on the ball, waiting with anticipation for the key moment; Honda threw the pitch, Atem swung left, and-

He missed completely.

“Strike three!” Anzu called. “Good try, Atem.”

Atem pouted slightly, and nonetheless retreated to the other side of the batting cage.

“Guess you couldn’t handle my balls,” Honda shouted with a mischievous grin.

Atem snickered slightly, but said nothing.

The game proceeded in much the same way for several innings, until Bakura, Yuugi, and Atem declared that they were tired. The equipment was packed up, the points tallied, and it quickly became clear that- To absolutely no one’s surprise- Team Victory had won by a long shot.

“That was fun!” Yuugi decided with a wide smile, as they all settled down on the blanket once more. “What did you think, Bakura-kun?”

“I had some fun, too,” Bakura admitted with a nod. “I still don’t think it’s something I’d really want to do on my own time, but with you guys, it wasn’t so bad. Thanks for not, like, picking on me for being wimpy and all,” he added, tilting his head slightly in embarrassment.

Jounouchi grinned. “See! I told you sports could be fun!”

“You might not be a great runner, but you’ve got the makings of a pretty decent pitcher,” Honda told Bakura with a nod. (Bakura beamed with pride.)

“Hey, speaking of running- How the _fuck_ are you so fast?” Jounouchi wondered, turning towards Atem in bafflement.

“Yeah, for real,” Anzu agreed. “I thought since you’re so short, you’d be slower, but I think you’re the fastest runner here!”

Atem’s only response was an ominous cackle, earning him looks of confusion and concern.

(If he was being honest with himself, though, all that physical activity had taken a lot out of him. He felt tired, hungry, and shaky, and the muscles in his arms and legs were sore from exercising. This surprised him somewhat; If his body were, as he had initially assumed, more or less the same as the one “he” had had in ancient Egypt, then he really ought to have been much more athletic than he seemed to be. 

...Then again, he realized, he had spent the past week not eating or sleeping nearly as much as a healthy person should, and he hadn’t done anything physical other than a few short walks; He’d also only had a few bites of his sandwich at lunch.

Maybe, just maybe, routinely neglecting one’s body _could,_ in fact, lower said body’s performance capabilities. Who knew!)

As Atem stared idly down at his body, zoning out slightly and contemplating his alarmingly low constitution, he suddenly heard someone say his name. He glanced up on instinct, looking towards the source of the interruption: Anzu.

“Out of curiousity, what kind of sports did you have in ancient Egypt?” Anzu wondered.

Atem paused for a moment before answering, tilting his head as he thought about it, recalling a distant childhood. 

“Hmm… I guess it depends on what you mean,” he decided. “Just like now, there were some sports that were mostly organized events played by professionals and the upper class, and there were casual games kids played in the street, and there were things that were sort of both- Like how baseball is now. Ball games were pretty popular for just passing the time, although those didn’t always have specific rules… As far as competitive sports go, though, we generally tended more towards individual ability stuff than team sports,” he recalled.

“Like what?” Jounouchi asked.

Atem shrugged. “Gymnastics, running, rowing, javelin throwing, archery, strength competitions… Also hunting, although I don’t know if that really qualifies as a sport,” he admitted with a confused frown.

“So what kind of stuff did you like to do?” Anzu continued. “Or did you not like sports?”

“I liked them decently enough, although I wasn’t particularly good at all of them,” Atem replied. “My favorites were archery, running, and a team game called stickball, which- Well, actually, it was pretty much just field hockey,” he realized, blinking in surprise.

“That sounds fun,” Anzu commented.

Bakura, meanwhile, stared into the distance, a look on his face somewhere between fondness and regret. “I… Always kind of wanted to try that one,” he muttered, quiet and hesitant, glancing down towards the picnic blanket.

Yuugi gave Bakura a sympathetic smile and a pat on the shoulder. “Well, maybe we can play it next time we come to the park,” he suggested.

“I read once that the Maya used to play a similar game, too,” Atem commented curiously. “Except that they’d play it at night, and the ball would be lit on fire. I’d really like to give that a try.”

Yuugi smacked a hand against his forehead in disbelief. “Other Me, _no.”_

“What? Doesn’t it sound more fun?” Atem argued.

“It sounds more dangerous is what it sounds.”

“Yeah, what is it with you and setting everything on fire? You know games don’t have to be super dangerous to be fun, right?” Anzu replied, frowning in concern.

Atem huffed. “Oh, come on. I haven’t even told you guys my opinions about golf yet.”

“Oh? Please, do share,” Honda prompted, raising an eyebrow amusedly.

Atem took a deep breath. At the same time, Yuugi sighed; He could clearly tell from Atem’s face that he had a _lot_ of thoughts, and had for some time, which was not always a good thing.

“So, let me ask you this: On a fundamental, core level, what is golf?” Atem began, speaking to the group.

The others paused for a moment to think about it, a puzzled look passing over the group.

“A rich old white people sport?”

“Boring as hell?”

“Solitaire hockey?”

“Hockey but all the equipment is smaller and the field is bigger?”

“Wasn’t it invented when like, a knight cut someone’s head off so hard it rolled into a rabbit hole, or something like that?”

Atem shook his head. “Nope, you’re all wrong. Also, I’m pretty sure that last one is Lord of the Rings,” he added, frowning and raising an eyebrow. “Anyway, the correct answer is this. At its core, golf is fundamentally a conflict between two things: The ball, which travels indefinitely along a straight path until something happens to alter its trajectory, and the environment, which is designed to keep the ball away from its destination,” he explained, in a confident, matter-of-fact tone. “Now, what else is a conflict between something moving along a straight course, and an environment designed to stop it?”

This time, there was no immediate response. The others shared frowns of confusion, at a complete loss as to what Atem was referring to. 

“...Platformer video games..?” Anzu tried, hesitant and uncertain.

To her surprise, Atem grinned and nodded. “Bingo!”

“Oh my god,” Yuugi whispered. 

“Atem, _what_ the hell are you talking about? That doesn’t even make any sense,” Honda pointed out, frowning and raising an open palm in bafflement.

Bakura nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that’s kind of a reach…”

“No no, listen, hear me out on this one,” Atem pleaded. “If you think about it, golf would be way more interesting if courses took more design inspiration from games like Sonic, Mario, Castlevania, Mega Man… Instead of the only obstacles being hills, water, and sand, they could try adding stuff like spike pits, lava, maybe some crocodiles-”

_“Crocodiles?!”_ Anzu blurted out in disbelief. 

“I’m... not sure lava actually works the way you think it does,” Yuugi pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

“You know what? I’d play it,” Jounouchi decided with a nod. “Sounds way better than actual golf.”

“Yeah, I think it sounds cool,” Bakura agreed.

Atem smiled. “See? _Someone_ appreciates my genius.”

Yuugi tilted his head back and forth, debating this idea. “...I mean, I guess it would be more of a risk for the ball than the players,” he realized. “And it does sound pretty interesting.”

“I guess so,” Anzu gave in. “Still, that’s… Kinda crazy…”

Honda opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again, frowning. 

“Something wrong, Honda-kun?” Yuugi asked. 

Honda blinked. “Huh? Oh, no, I’m good… I was going to say something, but I think it’s probably better not to,” he explained. 

“Say it, I wanna hear,” Jounouchi said, as he unscrewed the cap from the jar of bubbles.

“N-No, I don’t want to upset Atem and Yuugi…”

Yuugi glanced towards Atem for a brief second, exchanging questioning looks, but soon turned back towards Honda. “It’s ok, you can say it,” he promised.

“Go ahead,” Atem confirmed. 

Honda nodded, though he still seemed a little uncertain. “Well, I was thinking, uh… You know like- You know those famous historical royals who aren’t necessarily known for being super great rulers or anything, but for just like, being really weird and spending a ton of money on ridiculous stuff? I feel like if you hadn’t… W-Well, you know, uh…” he lowered his voice, glancing away awkwardly. “If you hadn’t- Died, I think you would have ended up like that.”

Atem stared silently at Honda, brow furrowed slightly. Honda sighed as he saw the look on his face. 

“Yeah, I knew I shouldn’t have said it… I’m sorry,” he apologized quietly.

“Oh, I’m not upset,” Atem assured him. “I’m just not sure if I should feel proud or insulted.”

“I mean, you might be right,” Yuugi admitted, shrugging.

“I like that you said it’s ‘if they didn’t die’. Just like, ever,” Jounouchi said with an amused snort.

Honda rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on. You know what I meant,”

“Imagine if that had happened, though,” Anzu added. “Just, like… An immortal retired pharaoh, lurking somewhere, designing impossible murderous golf courses for all eternity.”

“Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me,” Atem decided, nodding in approval.

There was a peaceful quiet for a little while after that, as Jounouchi continued to blow bubbles; Atem batted one out of the air curiously, watching as tiny, almost invisible droplets of soap scattered down to the ground.

“Oh, now that I think about it… Atem and I should probably get going soon,” Yuugi realized, glancing down at his watch with a surprised look. A chorus of disappointed sounds echoed across the group.

“How come you’re leaving so early? Sunset’s not for a while,” Anzu pointed out.

“My mom said she doesn’t want us to stay out for too long,” Yuugi answered. “It’s Saturday, so she thinks we should hang out with my dad.”

“Good idea. I think we should also hang out with your dad,” Jounouchi joked.

Yuugi shrugged. “I mean, honestly… If you want to, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind,” he admitted.

Jounouchi blinked, and shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “Nah, I-I was just joking… I mean, I wouldn’t want to interrupt your family time,” he insisted, waving his hands in denial.

“By all means, please do,” Atem muttered under his breath- Quietly enough that no one heard, except for Bakura, who shot him a worried look.

“Well, why don’t we walk you home?” Honda suggested. “That way, at least we’ll have a few extra minutes to hang out.”

“Yeah, that’s not a bad idea! I mean, I’d have to walk that way to get home anyway,” Anzu agreed.

Yuugi smiled. “I think that sounds great! As long as it’s not too much trouble for you guys, of course,” he added quickly.

“I’m down,” Jounouchi decided with a nod. “How about you, Bakura?”

“Sure, I’ll come.”

“Alright, let’s pack up, then,” Anzu said, and stood up off the blanket.

Atem and Yuugi exchanged excited grins, pleased with the thought of getting to spend more time with their friends- Even if it wasn’t much.

It didn’t take longer than a minute or two for the group to tidy up, gather their things, and start on their way. Atem sighed as he followed behind Yuugi; His legs did not seem to like the concept of walking, still tired from running during the baseball game.

“You ok, Atem?” Anzu asked, noticing the way he seemed to wince slightly.

Atem nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. My legs are sore, though… I guess I’m kind of out of shape from hiding in a hotel room all week,” he admitted, with a disappointed sigh.

“Want me to carry you?” Jounouchi suggested.

“Oh, no, that’s ok,” Atem replied, shaking his head quickly. “I’m fine, really.”

“You _sure?”_ Jounouchi questioned, raising an eyebrow, a questioning, inviting look on his face.

...Atem paused.

“...Well…”

Before Atem could hesitate any further, Jounouchi suddenly scooped him up from behind, somehow inexplicably managing to maneuver him over his arm and onto his shoulders.

“Woah, hey!” Atem gasped as Jounouchi set him down. “Warn me next time, geez!”

Jounouchi laughed. “Sorry, sorry,” he apologized, waving a hand dismissively before grabbing hold of Atem’s knees.

Despite the initial shock, Atem relaxed after a moment, sighing contentedly as he leaned forward against Jounouchi’s head. He watched the scenery go by, intrigued by the new, much higher viewpoint.

“I wish someone would carry _me,”_ Bakura muttered, slouching dejectedly. “I’m tired too, you know…”

“Sorry, my back is tired from carrying our team,” Honda replied, crossing his arms and giving a haughty nod.

Anzu scoffed in disbelief. “Um, excuse me? I’m sorry, which one of us got three home runs?” she retorted, shooting Honda an irritated look.

Jounouchi, meanwhile, smiled at Bakura in sympathy. “Don’t worry, you can have a turn on the way back,” he promised. (This seemed to cheer Bakura up right away, as he straightened his back and smiled widely.)

“Bakura-kun’s almost as tall as you are, though,” Yuugi pointed out, frowning worriedly.

“So? I’ll carry all my friends! Just try to stop me!” Jounouchi declared. “...Besides, Bakura’s like, a twig. He probably doesn’t weigh much more than you do, Yuugi. You, on the other hand,” he said, patting Atem’s knee and turning his head to glance back at him, “You gotta start eating more, dude. It’s freaky how light you are.”

Atem sighed. “Yeah, I know,” he muttered tiredly. “I’m… Trying.”

“How are you doing, by the way?” Anzu asked Atem. “Are you feeling any better, now that you’re back in Domino?”

“Eh… Yes and no,” Atem admitted, tilting his head in a so-so gesture. “I definitely feel more comfortable in Yuugi’s room than in the hotel room, and it’s not quite as loud and unfamiliar as Cairo, and I have… uh… Addressed certain things, recently, that I should have brought up a while ago,” he said tentatively, recalling the Bathtub Incident. “So that’s helped. But at the same time… I don’t know, it’s… Stressful to be around Yuugi’s parents,” he sighed.

“How come?”

“Because they don’t recognize me,” Atem explained, a tired frown on his face. “As far as my heart is concerned, they’re my parents, and this is my house. But the rest of the world doesn’t view things that way. It’s… Really hard being treated like an unexpected guest in my own house, and seeing my parents look at me like I’m a stranger. I worry a lot that I might do something wrong somehow, and then they’ll decide I’ve overstayed my welcome. Even though I don’t have anywhere to go home to.”

“Geez… That’s fucked up, bro,” Jounouchi said quietly.

Anzu bit her lip. “I’m sorry.”

“You remember what I told you, right? About your parents?” Bakura prompted gently.

Atem sighed. “Yeah…”

“Oh, good! Because I don’t,” Bakura replied with a cheerful smile.

“Wait, really?” Atem questioned, blinking in surprise.

“Yeah, I just remember you got the Chariot, and… what else was it… The Queen of Cups? Or… Maybe swords..? And Kaiba was involved somehow?” Bakura frowned slightly as he thought about it. “I dunno, I don’t have a very good memory. I’d probably remember better if I had the cards in front of me, though.”

“Fair enough, I guess,” Atem said with a shrug.

“Wait, what are we talking about?” Jounouchi asked in confusion.

Bakura laughed slightly before answering. “I did a tarot reading for Atem last week,” he explained. “But I forgot most of it.”

“Does that kind of thing really work?” Honda wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Bakura shrugged. “I guess it depends on what you believe. But I’ve never given an inaccurate reading, so take that as you will.”

Honda and the others thought about this quietly as they walked, not entirely how to react.

Eventually, though, conversation picked up again; The group chatted about all kinds of subjects as they walked towards Yuugi’s house, catching occasional dirty looks from passerby for being loud, though they paid little mind. After a few blocks, Jounouchi put Atem back down again, and from there, it didn’t take long until they reached Yuugi’s house.

As they approached, a tall figure soon became apparent, standing by the door to the shop with arms crossed. It was clear just who it was long before they got close enough to see detail.

“Is that who I think it is?” Jounouchi groaned.

“It is,” Atem replied with a sigh.

Kaiba glanced up as he heard the group approach- And then scowled in distaste upon seeing Jounouchi and the others.

“What are all of you doing here?” he grumbled.

“I live here,” Yuugi replied simply.

“We’re visiting our friends,” Jounouchi retorted, crossing his arms and glaring at Kaiba. “What’s your excuse, huh?”

“Yeah, what do you want, Kaiba?”

“Yeah, and… How long have you been standing there?” Anzu wondered, raising an eyebrow and giving Kaiba a look somewhere between concern and distaste.

Kaiba scoffed, unfazed by the hostility. “I’m willing to wait as long as it takes to get what I want,” he said calmly, and then walked up to Atem.

“You know exactly what I’m here for.”

Atem stared silently up at Kaiba for a moment, matching his crossed-arms posture and stern expression, before nodding. Without a word, he walked past the door and towards the alleyway behind the shop, followed by Kaiba.

“You guys want to watch the duel?” Yuugi asked the others, waiting to follow after them until he got a response.

“Sure,” Bakura replied with a nod.

“Eh, I guess it’s always fun to watch Kaiba get his ass beat,” Jounouchi replied, shrugging.

With that, the others followed Yuugi into the alley.

“Man, why does he have to be so creepy all the time?” Honda muttered as he sat down on the house’s side stoop, watching Yuugi hand his duel disk to Atem. “Why can’t Kaiba ever be like, ‘Hey Atem, want to duel me?’ instead of-” He crossed his arms and scowled- “‘You know what I’m here for,’” he repeated, lowering his voice in an exaggerated impression of Kaiba, wiggling his head for dramatic emphasis.

“Honestly,” Anzu sighed.

Kaiba sent a glare in their general direction, but said nothing as he unfolded his duel disk, drawing his starting hand with practiced ease.

“Looks like you’re up first,” Kaiba announced, glancing at his duel disk. “I look forward to a worthwhile duel.”

Atem studied his hand, mapping out combos in his head as he conducted his first draw. He took note of each card: Summoning Clock, Tricky Spell 4, Big Shield Gardna, Thousand Knives, and The Tricky. 

He glanced up at Kaiba for a moment, wondering what Kaiba had up his sleeve. He knew Kaiba’s usual strategies- But Kaiba knew his as well, and unlike Kaiba, Atem didn’t tend to spend a lot of time thinking about defeating his “rival”; It was well within the realm of possibility that Kaiba had modified his deck to counter against Atem’s own. 

...Well, there wasn’t much he could do about that for now. Better to focus on what he had.

Turning his attention back to his hand, he contemplated the potential of each card. The first to stand out to him were The Tricky, Tricky Spell 4, and Thousand Knives; If he could get Dark Magician in his hand, Thousand Knives would make quick work of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Tricky Spell 4 could easily get him free tributes to summon Dark Magician. He’d have to wait for Kaiba to get at least two monsters on his field, but knowing Kaiba’s love of brute force, he was sure that wouldn’t take long.

“I set a card, and I’ll play a monster in face-down defense position,” he declared, placing Tricky Spell 4 and Big Shield Gardna into his duel disk. “Your turn.”

Kaiba smirked as he drew his first card; Evidently, he’d gotten a good first hand.

“I had been hoping for a good duel, but it looks like this will go quickly,” he said, as snide as ever. “How disappointing. I summon Lord of D!”

“Uh-oh, I think I know what that means,” Bakura whispered to Jounouchi.

Atem, of course, knew as well, yet he remained unfazed as he watched Kaiba’s combo begin.

“I’ll play the spell card, The Flute of Summoning Dragon!” Kaiba announced, slapping the card down. “When this card is activated while Lord of D is face up on the field, both players can summon up to two dragon monsters from their hand- Not that I expect you to be summoning any,” he added with a sneer. “And the dragon I choose to summon is..!”

The ground almost seemed to shake as Kaiba placed his card with a flourish, and none other than Blue-Eyes White Dragon burst onto the field, roaring a fierce hello. The duel’s small audience gasped from the sidelines.

“He summoned Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the second turn,” Honda gasped. “That’s not a good sign…”

“Well, I guess that’s Kaiba for you,” Anzu said with a shrug. “The question is, how’s Atem going to fight back?”

“Well, he doesn’t seem bothered,” Jounouchi pointed out, nodding towards Atem. 

Indeed, Atem remained as calm and unwavering as ever, watching Kaiba with his usual sharp-eyed expression. (If anyone noticed the way he crossed his arms over his chest, discreetly supporting his tired duel disk arm with his other arm, they didn’t seem to comment.)

Kaiba, on the other hand, seemed quite confident, his lips stretching into an unsettling smile as he continued his turn.

“Next, I play another spell card: Stop Defense! With this, I can change one monster on the field, and change it from defense position to attack position- And I’ll attack it with Lord of D!”

Atem smiled before Kaiba even finished speaking- He’d seen this coming. 

“Too bad, Kaiba. You shouldn’t have gotten cocky,” he warned, shaking his head chidingly. “I activate my monster’s ability!”

Kaiba gasped. “What?!”

“When this face-down card is targeted by a spell card, I can change it to face-up defense position, and negate the activation,” Atem read. “Say hello to Big Shield Gardna!”

“Shit!” Kaiba hissed as Lord of D bounced off Big Shield Gardna’s shield, grunting before falling back to an unsteady stance. Kaiba’s duel disk beeped loudly as his LP dropped from 4000 down to 2600.

“Yeah!” Anzu and Honda cheered together, as Bakura clapped in satisfaction 

“Eat shit, Kaiba!” Jounouchi shouted with a grin.

“Atem’s still not off the hook, though,” Yuugi realized. “Big Shield Gardna’s other ability automatically changes him to attack position at the end of the damage step. But that’s still a pretty decent hit on Kaiba.”

Just as Yuugi had said, Big Shield Gardna changed to attack position, rotating the card on the field as he stood up.

Kaiba growled, glaring at Atem. “Fine. Then I’ll just have to wipe out your pathetic monster!” he shouted. “Let’s go, Blue-Eyes! _Burst Stream of Destruction!”_

Blue-Eyes White Dragon opened its jaw wide and drew back its head, and launched a flashing white ball of electricity with a hissing roar. Atem winced as Big Shield Gardna scattered into a confetti of light, knocking his LP all the way down to 2100.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon gave a satisfied snarl, and settled back down, flicking its tail as it stood obediently in front of Kaiba.

“Turn end.”

Atem took a deep breath, hoping for a good card as he made his draw. Fortunately, the suspense didn’t last long- He smiled in relief as the familiar sight of Dark Magician’s card art stared back out at him.

“I’ll discard a card from my hand, and special summon The Tricky in attack position,” he began his main phase, placing the card into his duel disk. “Next, I’ll play a spell card: Tricky Spell 4,” he continued. “This allows me to send one face-up The Tricky from my field to the graveyard, and special summon one Tricky Token for each monster you control.”

The faceless jester vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, yet still reappeared at the same speed- This time, doubled into two. The pair of tokens stood ominously still and straight, facing out at Kaiba like a wall before Atem.

Kaiba’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, knowing this almost certainly foreshadowed another summon.

“Now that I have two monsters on my field, I’ll tribute both of them to summon a monster. Come on out, Dark Magician!”

The Tricky and its double disappeared once more, and in their place came Dark Magician, spiraling up out of the ground with a dramatic flourish; Yuugi and the others cheered in excitement as the monster they’d all come to know and love made his entrance. (Kaiba, meanwhile, rolled his eyes at the sound.)

“Hell yeah, Dark Magician! Now you’re toast, Kaiba!” Jounouchi cheered.

“Hi, Mahaad!” Yuugi shouted from the sidelines.

Kaiba frowned, raising an eyebrow at Yuugi. “Don’t talk to the-”

“Hello, Yuugi,” Dark Magician spoke, turning and bowing politely towards Yuugi. “How are you?”

Yuugi grinned. “I’m good! How are you?”

“Doing well, thanks.”

Contrary to Yuugi’s casual attitude, the others glanced back and forth between him and Dark Magician with wide-eyed expressions of shock.

“Dark Magician can _talk?!”_ Honda blurted out in surprise.

“It’s not supposed to,” Kaiba answered in an almost hostile tone, frowning and storming towards Atem, momentarily abandoning the duel to address this “problem”. “Clearly his duel disk is malfunctioning.”

Atem raised an eyebrow, and turned away from Kaiba slightly. “My duel disk is fine.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up,” Jounouchi interrupted, waving his hands to get the others’ attention. “I’m confused. Since when the hell can Dark Magician talk?!”

“Oh, since always,” Dark Magician replied with a shrug. “I simply chose not to, because it… Would have raised too many questions that were not ready to be asked.”

Kaiba’s frown deepened. “No. This is wrong,” he snarled. “Duel monsters are simulations, they’re not sentient. Dark Magician should not be able to talk,” he insisted. “Atem, let me see your duel disk, now.”

Atem refused, leaning away and holding his duel disk close to his chest protectively. “No!”

“Most monsters you see are nothing more than holograms, yes,” Dark Magician admitted. “But not all of them.”

“Yeah, Dark Magician is a person,” Yuugi added with a nod.

“Oh, that’s right!” Anzu gasped. “I remember you guys mentioning that! That makes sense.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now,” Jounouchi realized.

Honda frowned in confusion. “Wait, you mean like… A person-person? Like, an actual human guy?”

“‘Human’ is debatable, but ‘actual guy’, yes,” Dark Magician replied with an amused smile, and then bowed politely. “My name is Mahaad. It’s a pleasure to meet you all- Though I suppose we’ve met before.”

“Nice to meet you too!” Anzu replied, smiling and nodding politely.

As this was going on, Bakura hung back awkwardly, avoiding eye contact and staying quiet; The others, however, were more than happy to chat with their new-old friend, filled to the brim with questions.

“Are _all_ duel monsters alive?” Honda wondered.

“No, only some, it depends on-”

“Does everyone turn into a trading card when they die?” Jounouchi added in.

Mahaad blinked. “Um-”

“Wait, so does that mean Dark Magician Girl can talk too?” Anzu gasped.

“Yes, she’s-”

_“Enough!”_ Kaiba interrupted, storming over to the group and cutting off the conversation with a tangible air of bitterness; The others fell quiet, watching Kaiba in shock. “There is no such thing as living duel monsters. Atem’s duel disk is simply malfunctioning.”

Mahaad turned towards Kaiba, a sudden sad look on his face. “Seto… Do you really not remember?”

“Oh, he remembers. He’s just being a jerk for no good reason, as usual,” Atem grumbled, the first thing he’d said since Kaiba’s attempt to take his duel disk.

Kaiba took a sharp breath in. _“If…_ You are referring to the priest Mahaad,” he ground out through clenched teeth, “He died a long time ago. Which means _you-”_ he pointed towards Mahaad- “Are nothing more than a delusional, malfunctioning hologram.”

Mahaad raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yes, of course. You’re quite right- Although I must say, I wasn’t aware that non-sentient entities could experience delusions… But I wouldn’t want to argue with your wisdom, _Pharaoh Seto,”_ he said with a careful, emphasized politeness, bowing dramatically.

Kaiba’s eyes widened, face burning bright red, as Atem and the others snickered.

“I don’t need your sarcasm,” Kaiba snarled. 

“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Mahaad replied, feigning innocence. “Oh, by the way- Mana said she wants her own theme music with the next duel disk. Some sort of upbeat hip-hop, I think,” he recalled.

Kaiba frowned, looking somewhat baffled by this concept. “Absolutely not. Don’t be ridiculous. As if I’d ever give monsters their own… theme music…”

He suddenly trailed off, glancing back at Blue-Eyes White Dragon, still standing obediently in the center of the alley; Blue-Eyes gave a curious rumble.

“Oh my god, he’s actually considering it,” Anzu realized with a quiet gasp.

Kaiba blinked, as if he’d only just remembered that the others were there. “What? No! No, absolutely not! Shut your mouth,” he snapped. “Let’s just get back to the duel already.”

“Wait, hang on! We’re trying to talk to Mahaad,” Yuugi told Kaiba in an impatient tone, waving a hand dismissively in his general direction before turning back towards Mahaad. “Anyway, guess what Atem and I did today?”

Mahaad turned back towards Yuugi with a smile. “What?”

“We played baseball with our friends! And next time we go to the park, we’re gonna teach everybody to play stickball, and-”

“And we’re gonna play it at night and set the ball on fire!” Atem finished.

Kaiba scowled. _“Excuse me-”_

“Oh, like Mayan fireball hockey?”

“Yes! Exactly like Mayan fireball hockey!” 

_“No!”_ Yuugi gasped. “I told you already, we’re not doing that.”

Atem rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on, Aibou. Don’t be such a-”

_“All of you shut up!”_ Kaiba suddenly shouted, causing the others to flinch in surprise. “I have had enough! I came here for a fucking _duel,_ not to catch up on extinct sports,” he insisted, seething where he stood.

Mahaad smiled cheerfully. “Oh no, Mayan fireball hockey is actually still quite popular in-”

“Don’t care, shut the fuck up,” Kaiba interrupted, pointing to Mahaad before turning back towards Atem. “Now, _you._ You promised me a duel,” he reminded him. “I intend to finish it. Which means the rest of you freaks can either leave, or sit down and shut the hell up, and _you_ need to do your damn job,” he finished, turning towards the spectators and Mahaad in turn.

Mahaad sighed. “Fair enough, I suppose.”

“Aw, don’t listen to him! He’s just mad ‘cause dead people consistently have more friends than him,” Jounouchi said, rolling his eyes.

Kaiba blinked, looking offended. _“Excuse_ me?”

“That… Seems a tad harsh,” Mahaad replied with a slight frown.

“No, Kaiba’s right,” Atem admitted, sighing slightly even as the others stared at him in surprise. “It was rude of us to interrupt the duel like that; We can chat later. I’m sorry, Kaiba.”

Kaiba gave a noise somewhere between an irritated huff and a sigh of relief. “Whatever. Let’s just get back to the duel, I don’t have all day.”

Atem nodded, and took his place in the center of the alley once more; Mahaad followed, facing Blue-Eyes White Dragon with the same easy confidence as always. He almost seemed like another person, such a simple change of posture so easily transforming him from Atem’s friend Mahaad to Dark Magician, Duel Monsters’ most legendary spellcaster.

“Alright then, I’ll continue my main phase,” Atem announced, once again taking on an air of drama and confidence. “I activate the spell card, Thousand Knives! With this, I can destroy your Blue-Eyes White Dragon!”

“Shit!” Kaiba hissed, wincing slightly at the realization of what this meant. 

Dark Magician shot Blue-Eyes White Dragon a brief, apologetic-yet-competitive smile; In an instant, he sent the holographic knives flying through the air with a showy flourish. Blue-Eyes roared, and vanished from the field, leaving a shower of white light in its wake.

Yuugi and the others cheered, but the game had only just begun.

* * *

By the time the duel was over, it was going on dinner time. Yuugi and Atem said goodbye to their friends, listened to Kaiba’s usual I’ll-get-you-next-time speech, and finally headed into the house, tired yet satisfied.

“Oh, there you two are! I was staring to get worried,” Grandpa greeted them as they entered the shop. “Your mother said you weren’t supposed to be gone for too long.”

“Sorry about that,” Yuugi replied, with an apologetic tilt of the head. “Kaiba challenged Atem to a duel, so we got a little sidetracked coming home.”

Grandpa raised an eyebrow. “Is _that_ what all that noise was…” he muttered.

Yuugi shrugged, and continued into the house, with Atem in tow.

“We’re home!” Yuugi called out as he removed his shoes. (Atem mirrored Yuugi’s movements, but remained silent.)

Yuugi and Atem heard the couch creak, and a moment later, Mr. Mutou emerged from the living room.

“There you are! You’re late, you missed Detective Conan! Tonight’s Conan vs. Kid, you know!” Mr. Mutou exclaimed.

Yuugi blinked. “Oh, was that today? I guess I forgot,” he muttered in response, sounding a bit distracted. “Sorry, dad.”

Mr. Mutou gave Yuugi a sympathetic look. “Well, don’t worry. I didn’t watch it without you,” he assured Yuugi, ruffling his hair affectionately. “I DVR’d it for you, so we can watch it now! Or… Whenever you want, I mean,” he added as an afterthought, glancing at Atem.

Atem glanced away, but before he could say or do anything, Yuugi answered.

“I think we should have a snack first,” Yuugi decided, yawning slightly. “I’m starving. What about you, Other Me?”

“Oh, um…” Atem trailed off, glancing around uncertainly before giving a small, shy nod.

Atem followed Yuugi into the kitchen. He grabbed the bag of senbei from the night before, placed it on the table, and opened the overhead cupboard for a glass, as Yuugi began making a snack of his own.

“You’re having cup ramen for a snack?” Mr. Mutou questioned, raising an eyebrow. (Atem jumped, startled.)

Yuugi shrugged. “I’m hungry.”

“Hmm… Now that you mention it, it is dinner time,” Mr. Mutou realized. “I guess it’s alright to have a casual dinner today, since your mom’s out with her friends.”

Atem watched as Mr. Mutou grabbed a plate and began making himself a sandwich. Suddenly, Atem felt awkward and out of place; He’d been expecting a quick snack with Yuugi, not dinner with Yuugi’s dad. He glanced nervously at Mr. Mutou, and then quickly looked away again, trying to stay quiet and unobtrusive as he ate his senbei.

“Oh, what do you want for dinner, Atem-kun?” Mr. Mutou asked.

Atem found himself startled once more. “Oh… Um… Th- This is fine,” he stammered.

“Are you sure? We’ve got plenty to eat, don’t be shy,” Mr. Mutou told him. “We’ve got sandwich stuff, rice, eggs, natto, hot dogs… You could even have cereal, if you want, it’s all good,” he insisted. 

“Oh yeah, you want some cereal?” Yuugi suggested.

“Um…”

Atem glanced around nervously, not sure how to answer. He _did_ want cereal- He was starving after such a long day with so little to eat- But was it really ok to say yes? He didn’t want to bother anyone. He didn’t want to impose.

...Then again, he supposed, Mr. Mutou _had_ been the one to offer. And it wasn’t like he could avoid eating forever; If he was going to be living with Yuugi’s family, of course he’d have to eat with them.

“...Yes, please,” he muttered quietly after a moment. 

It was strange, Atem thought to himself as he put away the senbei, and reached for a bowl. For most of his life, he’d made it a point to carry himself with a strong presence; In Egypt, this had been a learned necessity for his position as a leader, especially given his age and size. After the loss of his memories, the habit had faded into his subconscious, an instinctual way to compensate for his small size and Yuugi’s delicate reputation. 

Now, though… Now, things were different. Whenever Yuugi’s parents were around, Atem seemed to find himself doing the opposite, trying to make himself as small and quiet and unobtrusive as possible; He wasn’t supposed to be there, he knew, so if he could minimize how much he _was_ there, maybe things would be ok. Maybe.

He took a deep breath, and tried to remember what Yuugi and Bakura had told him. Of course Yuugi’s parents weren’t going to suddenly kick him out just for existing. Yuugi’s parents were the same parents he’d always known, kind people, even if they were the parents who didn’t know him, even if they weren’t really his parents and never had been and never would be- They were still good people, they’d never just kick him out on a whim, of course not, they’d just be awkward and tersely polite until eventually little things added up and they decided they had had enough of this strange, uninvited child mooching off of them and interrupting their home life and pretending like he was part of their family and-

...No. He couldn’t think like that. Paranoia would get him nowhere; For now, he needed to just forget about all that and finish his cereal. 

(He tried not to think about the curious, confused look Mr. Mutou seemed to be watching him with as he poured his cereal. He tried not to think about the paternal fondness he was used to seeing in those eyes, and how it had vanished without a trace now, replaced with an eerie unfamiliarity.)

“So, what did you kids do today?” Mr. Mutou asked, as Yuugi finally sat down.

“We went to the park with our friends,” Yuugi answered. “We played baseball!”

“Oh yeah? How’d that go?”

“My team won- But only because of Honda-kun and Anzu,” Yuugi admitted with a sheepish smile.

Mr. Mutou laughed. “Thats right, all your friends are jocks, huh?”

“Everyone except Bakura-kun. He’s almost less athletic than me,” Yuugi admitted, shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe how fast Atem is, though!”

“Oh yeah?” Mr. Mutou glanced over at Atem curiously. “Do you like sports, Atem-kun?”

Once again, Atem froze up, still so uncertain of what to say or do. He took a deep breath, and tried to remember what Bakura had said- He just needed to be himself. After all, if d- If Yuugi’s dad didn’t want to hear from him, he wouldn’t have asked him a question, right? Right. All he had to do was answer honestly. It would be fine.

“...Um… Mhmm. Sometimes,” he finally answered.

“What’s your favorite?” Mr. Mutou wondered.

_You know what my favorite sports are,_ Atem wanted to say. _You always used to play with me. You taught me how to shoot a bow. We always played on the same team._

Rather than voice these thoughts out loud, though, Atem answered only with a small shrug, looking away as he picked at his cereal. 

Mr. Mutou paused for a moment, waiting for Atem to continue; He frowned slightly in concern as Atem said nothing more, but brushed it off, sighing wistfully instead. 

“I’m glad you kids had fun. I was never any good at sports,” he commented, leaning against the table and staring thoughtfully towards the window. “I can hardly tell a baseball from a basketball!”

“You should try archery,” Atem muttered.

Mr. Mutou blinked, surprised to hear this; It was the first thing Atem had said to him without prompting, and that got his attention.

“Archery, huh? You think I’ve got a shot?” he wondered. “I dunno, I can’t say I’ve got a lot of arm strength…”

“Ha, I get it! Shot!” Yuugi teased. 

Mr. Mutou laughed. “Aw man, I didn’t even think of that!”

Atem’s eyes widened, face going red in embarrassment as he realized what he’d said. “No, it’s- You just- N-Nevermind,” he stammered, curling in on himself. “Forget it. I’m- I’m sorry.”

The kitchen fell quiet after that. Yuugi and Mr. Mutou exchanged worried looks; Atem quietly took a bite of his cereal, and tried to ignore the burning sensation in his cheeks and his eyes.

It really did hurt, seeing Yuugi’s father look at him the way he did, hearing him ask basic small-talk questions as if he didn’t know him. It hurt knowing that he truly _didn’t_ know him.

Looking at him… He really did look like Atem’s own father. Someone comparing photos of the two might not have made the connection, with so many differences- Yuugi’s father was paler, younger, clean-shaven, with his hair shorter and darker and swept back rather than long and covered by a cloth- But to Atem, the similarities were chillingly clear, from his eyes to his cheekbones to the way he smiled. Every time Atem looked at his- At Yuugi’s father, it brought back waves of his earliest memories, from when both he and his father had been younger. When his father’s face hadn’t had so many creases from frowning, when his hair had still been gold, when his eyes hadn’t had such a heavy look to them.

(Though it had taken many years before the gods graced Atem’s parents with a healthy child, Atem’s father hadn’t really been _old._ Stress had aged him far too early, leaving him wrinkled and grey before he even made it to 50. Atem prayed Yuugi’s father would live longer.)

Every time Atem looked at him… Every time, he saw his father, and every time, he saw a cold, empty distance in his eyes, confused and devoid of recognition. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he talked it through with himself, every time he saw it Atem found himself just… Freezing up. Suddenly, he didn’t know what to do or say; After all, what _was_ he supposed to do? What was anyone supposed to do, when their family didn’t recognize them anymore? If he spoke honestly, it would confuse his father, make him feel uncomfortable, and certainly would make Atem seem weird. He had to pretend his father was just as much of a stranger to him as he was to his father, or he’d just scare him away.

And yet, he didn’t know _how_ to do that; He didn’t know what he was supposed to say. It was so hard to hide his feelings.

Atem didn’t even notice how much time had passed until he heard the clatter of dishes in the sink, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Alright! Everyone done?” Mr. Mutou asked cheerfully.

Atem glanced at his half-eaten bowl of cereal, sighing internally, and nodded.

Atem carefully dumped the remainder of his cereal into the garbage, rinsed his bowl, and placed it in the sink, and the group headed out of the kitchen. As Yuugi and Mr. Mutou entered the living room, Atem turned towards the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Yuugi asked, frowning slightly as Atem began climbing the steps.

Atem paused, glancing back at Yuugi in confusion. “Upstairs,” he replied, though this was obvious.

“Why?”

“Well… I just… I mean, you’re- Spending time with… Your dad,” Atem stammered his explanation out awkwardly, shooting a nervous glance towards Yuugi’s father as he reminded himself to add the “your” before “dad”.

“That doesn’t mean you have to go upstairs,” Yuugi said with a confused frown. “Did you think I was going to kick you out of the living room just because dad’s here?”

Atem blinked. “Well, no, but- I-I just… Didn’t want to interrupt.”

“You wouldn’t be interrupting,” Yuugi promised. “You’re allowed to participate, too.”

“Yeah, you’re perfectly welcome to join in!” Mr. Mutou added with a cheerful smile.

Atem took a deep breath, and tried to ignore the cautious overtone to Mr. Mutou’s voice. “Oh… um… Ok, if you’re sure, I guess.”

Atem followed Yuugi and his father into the living room, sitting hesitantly on the couch next to Yuugi; He took a deep breath, watching as Mr. Mutou set up the VCR.

“Are you ok?” Yuugi asked Atem quietly, reaching for his hand.

Atem took Yuugi’s hand, grateful for the comfort, and nodded. “I’m… I’ll be ok. I think. I’m trying.”

“It’s ok,” Yuugi whispered. “Remember, there’s nothing to be scared of. I promise mom and dad don’t hate you.”

Atem bit his lip, and nodded once more.

Finally, the tape started, and Mr. Mutou sat down on the couch on the other side of Yuugi. Atem glanced at him for a quick second, tensing slightly, but soon turned his attention back to the TV; He sighed as he heard the opening theme’s familiar, friendly guitar riff fade in. 

He was glad they were watching TV (and an hour-long special at that) instead of doing something else. It gave him something else to focus on, something fun and thought-provoking to draw his attention- Something that was not only familiar to him, but that he was still _allowed_ to enjoy, without fear that he was overstepping his boundaries by interacting with it. And besides, if his- If Yuugi’s dad was busy watching TV, that meant he was less likely to-

“So, have you ever watched Detective Conan before, Atem-kun?” Mr. Mutou asked innocently.

Atem took a deep, sharp breath, his whole body tensing at this question. Everything about it was so _wrong._ Why did his father have to call him “Atem-kun”? Why did he have to ask him if he’d ever seen a show he’d watched _with him_ dozens of times? Atem wanted to scream that yes, _yes_ he’d seen it before, and his father _knew_ that because he’d _been there_ when he watched it, all three of them watched it together every week and they always had and why did dad have to talk to him like that-

“Of course he has, dad,” Yuugi interrupted. “He always watched it with us when we were sharing a body. You just couldn’t see him.”

Mr. Mutou hesitated for just a moment, before nodding. “Ah, right. Of course. I forgot about that,” he said, with a slight awkward laugh.

...That was it. That was when Atem knew he couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m- I-I need to go,” Atem blurted out, standing up abruptly as he blinked back tears. “I’m- I’m sorry.”

He didn’t leave any time for anyone to react as he ran for the stairs.

* * *

Atem slammed the door to Yuugi’s room and threw himself onto the bed, gritting his teeth tight enough to almost hurt, indifferent to the way the Millennium Puzzle’s sharp edge slammed against his ribs. 

His whole body shook, and his eyes watered enough to blur his vision, yet there were no crocodile tears this time; Instead, all that came out were ragged, frustrated breaths. He kicked angrily against the foot of the bed, letting out a muffled scream as his tears soaked into the pillow beneath his face. He continued like this for several minutes, rolling around growling, sobbing, and beating up the innocent bed, until he finally wore himself out; He flopped back against the bed, red-eyed and exhausted, and idly grabbed the Kuriboh plush.

“This sucks,” he groaned to nobody in particular.

It just… Wasn’t fair. Ever since he’d gained some sense of self, he’d dreamed of exactly two things: Getting his memories back, and becoming a real person. And yet, now that he had both of those things, nothing positive had come of them; Yuugi had spoken of his new “second chance” as if it were a reward for his good deeds, but he was starting to think that maybe it was really just a punishment for all the times he’d hurt people.

He recalled telling Yuugi once that he didn’t care if he never got his memories back, because he was happy staying with Yuugi. And honestly? He’d been right back then. He was so stupid for going back on that. When he’d been with Yuugi, sure, maybe he didn’t have an identity of his own, maybe he was living a lie- But he’d been _happy._ He’d had a home, a family, a life. Everything was perfect, and he’d given it all up for… For _what,_ exactly? What did he have now?

Nothing. He had nothing. He’d sacrificed everything he had, and in return received trauma, a body that he didn’t even know how to handle, and parents who treated him like he was an unexpected guest they needed to impress but didn’t really want to be around. All he had left was his friends, some clothes, and a stuffed doll from an airport, and it was his fault for getting greedy. It was stupid of him to think he could have ever been like real people; He should have just shut up and accepted what he’d been given with gratitude. He never should have tried to find out who he was. If he wanted a name, he should have just let his friends name him. (They probably would have picked something edgy, like “Yami”, or something like that. That was fine. He’d have been happy to have any name his friends would call him by.)

...Except that he _liked_ the name he had now. And, as horrifying as his memories were, they were important to him. He loved his parents, and his friends; After everything they’d given up, he owed it to them to remember them and honor them. He especially owed that much, at least, to Mahaad and Mana. He didn’t want to forget again, not ever.

Was that just it, then? Would he have been doomed either way? Were his only choices a life full of trauma and rejection, or a hollow, parasitic half-life where he would always know something was missing?

Was he doomed to always be isolated in plain sight?

It wasn’t fair. He’d been having such a good day until they’d gotten home. He’d had so much fun with his friends, he’d been so happy, he’d barely even thought about his problems, and yet- And yet, a few words from dad was all it took to make him feel like he’d have been better off dead rather than alive.

...He needed to address this whole… _Thing_ with Yuugi’s parents, he realized with a sigh. “Oh, they just need to get used to you” or “Just be yourself!” were all fine and good comments, sure, perfectly well intentioned, but they did nothing to help him, and if he didn’t find something that _would…_ He wasn’t going to be able to reasonably stay with Yuugi and his family. He needed to get actual, useful help, and sooner rather than later.

He took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and rolled off the bed, setting out in search of the one person he always trusted for advice: Grandpa.

* * *

Meanwhile, back downstairs, Mr. Mutou paused the tape as Atem ran away.

“Is… He ok?” he asked, as both he and Yuugi leaned forwards to stare at the doorway worriedly.

“I don’t know,” Yuugi admitted, biting his lip. “I think right now he probably just needs some space.”

Mr. Mutou frowned. “I don’t get it… He talks to you, but he always seems so on edge whenever I talk to him. Did I do something wrong?” he wondered worriedly.

“No, not really,” Yuugi sighed. “I don’t know, I think… I think it’s just your face that upsets him.”

“My _face upsets him?”_ Mr. Mutou repeated, baffled, staring at Yuugi with a look of sheer disbelief.

Yuugi blinked, eyes widening as he realized what he’d said. “What? N-No, not like that! I’m not- I don’t mean that he like, thinks you’re ugly or anything,” he clarified, unable to stop himself from laughing slightly at the error. “I’m sorry, oh my god I phrased that poorly, no, what I meant is… um… How do I put this… Well, it’s just that he likes you, you know?”

“Wait, hold on, back up. He ran away crying… Because he likes me… But my face bothers him?” Mr. Mutou questioned, raising an eyebrow. “I-I don’t really get anything you’re saying, bud.”

“No, that’s not…” Yuugi paused, huffing out a sigh as he tried to rethink his explanation. “Ok, like, think of it this way… You know how when you first meet someone, you tend to kinda act a certain way?” he began.

“Mhmm.”

“And then, after a while, once you’ve gotten to know them and gotten used to them, you relax and start to act differently.”

“Yeah.”

“And you don’t really know Atem yet, right?” Yuugi continued.

“Right…” Mr. Mutou answered, uncertain where this was going.

“Well, there you have it,” Yuugi finished.

Mr. Mutou frowned slightly, trying to make sense of this. “So… You’re saying he’s upset because he’s shy and afraid of meeting new people?” he asked for confirmation.

“No, the other way around,” Yuugi corrected him, shaking his head.

_“I’m_ upset because I’m shy and afraid of meeting new people?”

Yuugi smacked a hand against his forehead in frustration. “No! What I’m trying to say is… You’re not used to Atem, so you act like he’s someone new, because to you he is,” he explained. “But you’re not new to him. To him, you’re, well, his dad. So seeing you look at him like you don’t know him freaks him out.”

_“Oh,”_ Mr. Mutou gasped as he finally understood.

For a moment, the room was quiet. Mr. Mutou stared at the coffee table with a forlorn frown, contemplating what Yuugi had said.

“So… What should I do?” he asked quietly, biting his lip.

“I don’t know if there’s anything you can do,” Yuugi admitted with a sigh. “All any of us can really do is wait for enough time to pass- If you try to fake it, I’m sure he’ll- Oh!” Yuugi suddenly gasped. “I just realized, there is one thing you can do!”

Mr. Mutou sat up a bit straighter, eyebrows raised with interest. “Really? What is it?”

“Stop calling him ‘Atem-kun’. He hates that,” Yuugi explained. “I mean, you wouldn’t call me ‘Yuugi-kun’, right? So it’s kind of a slap in the face, you know?”

“Oh… That makes sense,” Mr. Mutou realized with a slow nod. “I was just trying to be polite- I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable by getting too casual, but I guess I didn’t really think it through all the way,” he admitted apologetically. “I’ll keep that in mind from now on.”

Yuugi smiled. “Great! I think that’s a good first step.”

Mr. Mutou smiled back, and then glanced towards the TV, frowning slightly once again. “Should we wait for him to come back before we finish the episode?” he wondered.

Yuugi paused for a moment to think about this. 

“Hmm… Nah, I think he probably needs some space right now, I wouldn’t bet on him coming back any time soon,” he concluded. “If he wants to watch it, I’ll watch it with him later.”

“Alright, if you’re sure,” Mr. Mutou replied, pressing the play button on the VCR’s remote and turning his attention towards the TV. “I just hope he’ll be ok.”

* * *

As Atem set out on his quest to find Grandpa, he stopped at the foot of the stairs, suddenly remembering something: Grandpa was, he realized, still working.

(The shop had started getting a lot more business, ever since Grandpa had started shamelessly taking advantage of- Ahem, that is, ever since the public got wind that the legendary King of Games lived there. So, in order to keep up with demand, Grandpa had extended Saturday hours to 8:00.)

Atem glanced briefly in the direction of the living room- He could still hear the TV- And peeked quietly, carefully behind the curtain into the shop. He knew he should have waited until Grandpa was off shift, until he was sure he wasn’t interrupting anything, and yet… He couldn’t wait. He had to at least see how many customers were left.

Atem had hoped to remain unnoticed, but evidently failed to be stealthy, as Grandpa glanced towards him with a smile. 

“Hello there.”

“Oh… um… Hey,” Atem replied hesitantly, not really sure what else to say.

As Grandpa turned a bit further, he found himself surprised by the sight of the boy standing in the doorway: Disheveled and tired, both arms wrapped firmly around his Kuriboh, peeking shyly through the curtain with wide, red-tinged eyes. Grandpa frowned worriedly for just a moment, before giving a reassuring smile.

“Did you need something, dear?” he asked.

Atem blinked. “N-No, not really, um…” He took a deep breath, remembering why he’d come downstairs in the first place. “...Actually, if it’s alright, there’s… Something I need to talk to you about. When you’re done working, I mean,” he added. 

“Well, you’ve got good timing, then,” Grandpa said, glancing at the clock; He walked casually over to the door, flipped the “Open” sign to “Closed”, and turned the lock.

“Now then, what did you want to talk about?”

Atem paused, trying to think of what to say. Of where to start.

“...This is going to sound kind of stupid, but… The thing is…” He hesitated for a moment, glancing towards the curtain, listening to the TV before lowering his voice and his gaze. “I… I think I’m, um. Afraid of Yuugi’s parents,” he admitted quietly.

Grandpa was quiet for a few seconds, before asking gently, “Why?”

“Because… It’s just… I mean, I’m a stranger to them,” Atem explained, squeezing Kuriboh anxiously. “I know they wouldn’t really- Kick me out, or anything like that, but still… I worry. And…”

“And?” Grandpa prompted.

Atem sighed. “I just… I can’t take seeing them treat me like a stranger. They’re my _parents._ And they don’t even know. And I…” he took a deep, shaky breath. “I mean… I-I watched my dad die, you know? And I thought about him every day after that, until- Until, you know, I lost my memories. And now I- I can’t even tell him how much I love him, because it- it’d make him uncomfortable and he’d think I’m weird and- and- And I just don’t know what to do,” he stammered, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. (And he’d tried so hard to stay composed…) “I can’t do this. Every time mom and dad look at me like that, it just hurts so much. I think it’s one of the worst feelings in the world.”

A sad look crossed over Grandpa’s face, before he wordlessly pulled Atem into a gentle hug.

“Oh, my poor boy… I’m sure he already knows, deep down,” he assured Atem quietly.

“Everyone keeps saying that, but what is ‘deep down’ supposed to do for me?” Atem whispered, gripping the back of Grandpa’s shirt. “It doesn’t change a thing to me… God, maybe I really should just move in with Bakura. At least if he, I don’t know, suddenly snaps and tries to kill me in my sleep, at least that’s something I know how to handle,” he grumbled bitterly.

“Oh, now you’re just being dramatic,” Grandpa said, raising an eyebrow as he slowly let go of Atem.

Atem sighed. “Yeah, maybe, but still… I just don’t know what to do,” he repeated. “I really… I can’t do this. I can’t. I know it’s stupid and I’m just overreacting, but I don’t know what I can do about it.”

Grandpa paused for a moment, watching Atem thoughtfully as he considered this.

“...Well… I have an answer for you, but I don’t know that you’ll like it very much,” he began, after a few seconds.

“Shoot.”

“The fact of the matter is, you need to spend more time with them,” Grandpa answered. “You need to get used to being around them, and they need to get used to you.”

Atem gave a huff, throwing an arm up in disbelief. “That’s just the thing, though! I _can’t_ spend time with them,” he insisted, sounding noticeably distressed. “I mean, I could barely manage five minutes in a room with dad before I had an emotional breakdown, how- How the hell am I supposed to do that?!”

“Well, who says it has to be longer than five minutes?”

Atem blinked. “Huh?”

“If you can’t do five minutes, then do one minute,” Grandpa decided, shrugging. “Start small. Do what you can. Say hello if you pass them in the hallway, try spending more time in the living room instead of your bedroom… Little thing,” he suggested. “Whatever it takes to start building a relationship. There’s no need to push yourself too hard.”

Atem went quiet.

“...Is it really that simple?” he wondered, in a dazed whisper.

Grandpa gave him a sympathetic smile. “Not everything has to be complicated, dear.”

“I… I guess, but… I don’t know. It still hurts,” Atem sighed.

“I know. I’m sorry. I wish there were some miracle solution to this, but there isn’t,” Grandpa replied apologetically. “As it stands, this is the best way to work towards making it stop hurting sooner.”

“I guess you’re right,” Atem gave in, with a slow nod. “I’ll… I’ll try it, then. Thanks, Grandpa.”

“Good luck,” Grandpa told him sincerely. “Remember, I’m always here if you need to talk.”

Atem smiled gently. “Yeah, I know. Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH! THAT'S A BASEBALL!™  
> A few notes:
> 
> 1\. Although there is ancient Egyptian art depicting a game similar to field hockey, I haven't been able to find a name or rules for it, so I had to take some creative liberties and make something up. If anyone knows what it was actually called, please let me know and I'll edit the chapter accordingly.  
> 2\. Yes, "Mayan fireball hockey" is a real thing, although from what I gather it's actually called pasárutakua and is played by the Purépecha, not the Maya. I called it "Mayan fireball hockey" anyway, because that's how most people seem to know it and I doubt the characters nor the readers have done a ton of research into the subject, but I still want to give credit where credit's due.  
> 3\. I've never actually watched Detective Conan, so the mention of it has nothing to do with the recent remake- I picked it based on looking at anime that were airing on Saturday nights in fall 1997. Most of my knowledge of it comes from ads in the back of early volumes of FMA.


	8. Miscommunication Rondo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In memory of Tomoya Hanasaki. He's not dead but god knows nobody's gonna remember him anyway

In contrast to the previous busy day, Sunday passed rather uneventfully. The others were too busy with homework to hang out, so Atem and Yuugi stayed home instead; Atem spent time with Yuugi, and avoided his parents for the most part, with dinner consisting of a plate of senbei with beans Yuugi brought upstairs for him. Anzu came over to study after dinner, bringing with her some of the homework Yuugi had missed over the week- Which, of course, was promptly abandoned after she left in favor of playing video games with Atem.

For six hours.

By the time Yuugi finally realized what time it was (Because of course Atem wouldn’t have noticed- The human need for sleep was never very present in his mind), it was well after 3 AM. They climbed into bed, exhausted yet still chatting away about Sonic, until Grandpa knocked on the door and told them very tiredly-yet-firmly to shut the hell up.

Long, long after either of them had any business being awake, both boys finally fell asleep, curled up with arms and legs wrapped around each other as always; Exhausted from their late night, they slept soundly, for once completely unbothered by nightmares, anxiety, hunger, or anything else. 

At least, until the knocking started.

_Knock knock knock._

The two boys gradually came into consciousness- And, being as tired as they were, promptly ignored the knocking at the door.

_Knock knock knock._

“Yuugi? Are you dressed yet?”

Yuugi was already falling back asleep.

 _Knock knock._ “Yuugi? I hope you’re not still asleep in there!”

Tragically, he was.

“Yuugi-!”

The door was suddenly thrown open, startling both Yuugi and Atem.

“Yuugi! Wake up!” Mrs. Mutou demanded, putting a hand on her hip.

“‘M awake,” Atem groaned, rolling out of the bed and directly onto the floor with a muffled “Ow.”

Yuugi sat up just slightly “Huh… Wha..?” he slurred, glancing around in confusion.

“What are you doing, sleeping this late?” Mrs. Mutou scolded him. “It’s Monday. You have to go to school.”

 _“What?!”_ Yuugi and Atem both shrieked, having… Evidently forgotten all about school.

In their haste to get ready, Atem sat up and Yuugi climbed out of bed just in time for Atem’s head to collide at full speed with Yuugi’s knee, at the same time as Yuugi unwittingly stepped on Atem’s crotch.

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “I’ll… Leave you two alone now,” she mumbled, shaking her head in disbelief and closing the door on both boys’ shouts of pain.

* * *

Several minutes later, Yuugi and Atem stumbled into the kitchen- Fully dressed, for the most part (Atem was distinctly lacking in accessories), but clearly _not_ fully awake.

“Good morning,” Grandpa greeted them cheerfully. 

“It sure is a morning,” Yuugi muttered in response. Atem, meanwhile, gave no reply other than a tired groan.

“How did you two sleep?” Mrs. Mutou asked.

“Fine, until you woke us up,” Yuugi replied, clearly not without a hint of bitterness.

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “Well, maybe if you’d gone to sleep at a normal hour, you’d be _awake_ at a normal hour,” she said tersely.

Once again, Yuugi and Atem’s only responses were drawn-out groans. Atem slumped over onto the table, whispering a soft “ow” as his already-sore forehead hit the wood.

“I don’t wanna go to school,” Atem muttered, his voice muffled by the tabletop. 

“Me neither,” Yuugi sighed as he grabbed a bowl from the cabinet.

Grandpa laughed slightly. “Well, the good news is you don’t have to.”

“I don’t?!” Yuugi gasped with wide, excited eyes, as Atem sat bolt upright, mimicking Yuugi’s expression.

“No, _you_ do,” Grandpa corrected them, pointing to Yuugi. _“Atem,_ on the other hand, technically isn’t a registered student, so he gets to stay home.”

“Aww, can’t I just stay home anyway?”

“Yay, I get to stay home!” Atem exclaimed, putting up a hand in victory, though his excitement was tempered by his sleepiness. “...Oh, wait… but… All my friends go to school,” he realized after a moment, frowning slightly.

“You can’t stay home, Yuugi, you’ve missed a week of school already,” Mrs. Mutou informed Yuugi as she ate her toast.

Yuugi sighed. “Yeah, I know…”

Atem went quiet for a moment, staring at Yuugi thoughtfully. Finally, he gave a resolute nod, and a yawn.

“I’ll go to school too,” he decided.

Grandpa blinked. “I… Don’t think that’s really how it works, dear,” he said slowly, raising an eyebrow. “Like I said, you’re not officially a student. You can’t just… Show up to class like you’ve always been there. You’ll have to stay home until we can get you registered, unfortunately,” he admitted with an apologetic frown.

“...Oh.”

Atem suddenly fell quiet; He and Yuugi exchanged glances, neither of them needing to say their thoughts out loud- They both knew.

They didn’t want to be apart, and Atem didn’t want to be home without Yuugi.

“Oh, don’t look so depressed, you two. It’s only a few hours,” Grandpa told them reassuringly. “Now hurry up, Yuugi, you’re going to be late.”

Yuugi gasped, suddenly remembering just what time it was. 

He didn’t even say anything, too busy hurrying to finish his breakfast to speak. He shoveled his food in like a vacuum, threw his bowl in the sink, and quickly ran out into the hall, racing to put on his shoes; Atem followed him, but walked face-first into the door frame.

 _“Fuck!”_ Atem hissed as he hit his forehead for the third time that morning.

“Watch your language!” Mrs. Mutou warned.

Atem groaned, rubbing his sore forehead. “Sorry, mom…”

As soon as the words had left his lips, Atem froze. Both he and Mrs. Mutou gasped, meeting each others’ gazes with wide eyes as they both suddenly realized what they’d each said.

For a moment, no one said anything. All eyes were on Atem as he glanced nervously around the kitchen; He felt stunned, frozen, knowing that he needed to do something but at a complete loss for what he possibly _could_ do-

Finally, he ran.

* * *

It felt like much longer than the minute or so it had been when Yuugi found Atem, curled up into a ball at the far end of the couch. Yuugi let out a sigh of relief as he saw that Atem was quiet, not crying as he had feared- But that didn’t make the incident any less concerning.

“Are you ok?” Yuugi asked Atem gently, sitting down on the couch next to him.

Atem nodded. “Yeah, I’m ok… I’m- I’m sorry I ran away, I just… I don’t know, I panicked, I’m sorry,” he sighed.

“It’s ok.”

“Is… Do you think mom’s mad at me?” Atem wondered quietly, glancing away.

“No, I don’t think so,” Yuugi replied, shaking his head. “It was just a slip of the tongue. I’m sure mom understands. It’s fine.”

Atem gave a quiet hum of acknowledgement, but didn’t seem convinced.

Yuugi bit his lip worriedly, but said nothing; Instead, he reached for Atem’s hand.

“I have to leave for school now,” he told him as he stood up. “I’ll see you when I get back, ok?”

Atem nodded, and stood up as well, pulling Yuugi into a goodbye hug.

For a moment, they simply stood there, as if the rest of the world didn’t exist. They held each other tight, warm and close and safe, neither wanting to let go for even a second; Yuugi rested his head on Atem’s shoulder, and-

“Yuugi! Don’t keep Anzu waiting!”

Yuugi sighed at the interruption, but nonetheless reluctantly let go of Atem.

“See you later, I guess.”

Atem nodded. “Right… Um… Say hi to the others for me, alright?”

Yuugi smiled, and pulled his backpack up on his shoulder. “I will,” he promised as he headed towards the doorway. “Bye-bye, have a good day, see you later!”

“You too,” Atem replied, waving, though his expression looked… Almost confused.

And then, Yuugi was gone.

Atem felt… Dazed. It was still early, and until Grandpa had mentioned it, neither he nor Yuugi had thought about the fact that he wasn’t an enrolled student; Truth be told, he hadn’t had time to get used to being _awake,_ let alone get used to the idea of staying home without Yuugi. But time would only wait for so long, and now Yuugi was on his way, and Atem had to deal with being away from him for several hours. 

And no one else would be around except for mom and Grandpa. 

And he’d accidentally called Yuugi’s mom “mom”.

Atem sighed, and prepared himself for what he was quite certain was going to be a long and unpleasant day.

* * *

Yuugi stared idly out the window- Staring, but not really looking, too distracted with other things. All day, he’d been feeling… Off.

At first, things had been mostly alright. He would have preferred Atem come with him rather than stay home, but all things considered, it wasn’t _that_ huge a deal at first; After all, it wasn’t like Atem had ever physically come to school before, so nothing had really changed. Yuugi walked with Anzu to school, as usual, and sat through class, as usual. He had the same classmates, the same desk, the same routine. To all outside eyes, nothing had changed.

As the day went on, though, Yuugi had started to feel more and more on edge. What had started as just idle disappointment, just an offhand feeling of “Oh, it’s too bad Atem can’t hang out at school”, had quickly grown into an empty ache; The fact of the matter was that Yuugi had never been away from Atem for more than a little while, not since before he’d solved the Millennium Puzzle, and nothing could have prepared him for the feeling of being by himself.

He didn’t just _miss_ Atem- He honestly didn’t know what to do without him.

Now that he and Atem had been well and truly separated, the silence in his head had come back tenfold. Though things had felt different for Yuugi from day one- No more sharing his mind, no more constant presence in the back of his soul, no one left in his body but him- It hadn’t quite been so noticeable, when Atem was around; It was Atem’s presence that Yuugi needed, and even if they were no longer sharing a body, they were still sharing a space. Atem was still _there,_ and that was enough to satisfy Yuugi’s soul. There was no empty hole where Atem should have been, because Atem hadn’t actually gone anywhere.

Now, though, Atem _wasn’t_ there, and Yuugi could feel his absence just as strongly as he’d felt his presence. It was like static in his mind- Except that static was present, tangible. Static was something. This was the exact opposite: A lack of something, an empty absence, void and hollow. It scared Yuugi; It felt like the spiritual equivalent of falling into deep water, when everything sounded numb and he couldn’t see anything and he knew he needed to get out. It distracted him from his lessons, too overwhelming to ignore no matter how hard he tried.

Still… Eventually, he started to get used to the feeling. He could _almost_ ignore it, like how he could _almost_ ignore a migraine as long as he kept busy enough. He almost managed to ignore it as he focused on his math lesson, listening to the teacher’s lectures on calculus.

 _Man, I know all this stuff already,_ he realized after a few minutes. _Hey, Other Me, do you want to play shiritori or something?_

No answer came, and suddenly Yuugi’s heart raced like fire, his hand instinctively flying to the Millennium Puzzle at his chest-

-And then he remembered.

 _Oh, right. You’re… Not here,_ he thought quietly to the empty space in his mind. _I miss you. I hope you’re not too lonely at home, or too bored… It’s boring and lonely here…_

He sighed, and slumped forward in his chair slightly, tracing the crevices in the Millennium Puzzle with his fingers. 

At least the Puzzle, as it was his turn to wear it that day, was a minor comfort, the same shape and weight as ever; It even still emanated the same magic energy. (Although the magic in question had… Definitely become slightly more uncomfortable to think about, now that Yuugi knew the truth about its origins.) Still, without his precious Other Self residing inside it- Though Yuugi was thankful a thousand times over that the poor boy was no longer imprisoned- The Puzzle was little more than a fancy piece of jewelry. It was not his friend; He would never feel the gentle background of emotions changing within the Millennium Puzzle from moment to moment, never hear it laugh or hum a tune idly, never see it sit on the floor and watch the class curiously… The Puzzle did not think. The Puzzle did not feel. An inanimate object, no matter what sort of significance it may have had, could never replace a person.

Yuugi felt a lump growing in the back of his throat, and took a sharp breath, clenching his teeth as he tried to calm himself down.

_I really miss you._

As Yuugi tried to focus on the lesson (Even if it was already things he knew- He liked math, he could never stop himself from reading ahead in the textbook), he thought he heard someone call his name. 

He blinked, frowning in confusion, and shook his head as he turned his attention back to the teacher. 

It wasn’t until he heard it a second time, and then a third, that he realized it wasn’t his imagination after all- It was one of his classmates, trying to get his attention.

“Yuugi-kun, are you ok?” Yuugi heard Hanasaki whisper, leaning slightly closer to him in the next seat over.

Yuugi frowned, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “Yeah, why?”

“You’re kinda-”

“Do you have something to share with the class, Hanasaki-kun?” the teacher interrupted sarcastically. Hanasaki jumped, blushing in embarrassment.

“N-No, sorry sensei,” Hanasaki muttered in response, quickly looking back down at his desk.

Yuugi glanced at Hanasaki, and frowned slightly, but said nothing more.

* * *

Yuugi barely even seemed to notice the passage of time, until the bell finally rang for lunch. Somehow, this wasn’t much of a relief to him; Normally he would have been excited for lunch, the time to hang out with friends, but what difference did it make? He still felt the same way he’d felt all morning, and that was empty. He sighed as he opened his bento.

“Oh, come _on!_ Enough already!”

Yuugi glanced up at the sound of hands slamming angrily down a desk. “Huh?”

“What’s your damage, Kaiba?” Jounouchi asked, as cheerfully and casually as if this were a common question.

“What’s _my_ damage? What’s _his_ damage?” Kaiba retorted, pointing accusatorily at Yuugi.

Yuugi blinked in confusion. “Me..?” he responded dazedly, as the others stared at Kaiba with questioning frowns.

“All day, you’ve been all-” Kaiba gave several exaggerated sighs, staring wistfully off in random directions each time- “And making that… that… Weird… Sad puppy face,” he insisted, waving a hand in disbelief and disgust. “I can’t stand it! I don’t know _what_ your problem is, Yuugi, but could you _please_ be emo a little bit more quietly? Some of us are actually trying to study.”

“Hey, leave him alone!” Anzu told Kaiba, crossing her arms in a huff.

“Yeah, fuck off,” Jounouchi agreed.

“Kaiba does have a point, though,” Honda countered, watching Yuugi with a worried frown. “You have been doing a lot of-” Honda gave a dramatic sigh, much like Kaiba’s. “You ok, man?”

“That was what I was trying to say before,” Hanasaki added. “You seem really down today, Yuugi-kun. Is everything ok?”

“Oh… yeah…” Yuugi found himself sighing once again despite it all, unable to stop himself. “I’m sorry, guys… I don’t mean to be such a downer. I just… I miss Atem, that’s all,” he admitted quietly.

The others frowned worriedly. Anzu put a hand on Yuugi’s shoulder.

Kaiba, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow. “Seriously? You’re kidding me, right? It’s not like he’s dead,” he pointed out. “He literally _lives in your house._ You saw him, what, four hours ago?”

Yuugi huffed. “You just don’t get it. It’s not a matter of how long it’s been,” he insisted. “It’s just… I mean… He’s a part of me. I don’t feel right when he’s not here.”

“Um… Sorry if this is kind of a stupid question, but… Who are you talking about?” Hanasaki interrupted, hesitation and confusion clear in his voice.

Yuugi blinked, not quite sure how to answer; Of course he’d always known that, eventually, he would have to introduce Atem to his classmates, and they had talked about a cover story to explain Atem’s existence- Yet this was the first time he’d been faced with the task of explaining Atem to someone who had never officially met the “Other Yuugi” (though he was fairly certain Hanasaki had spoken to him before, if memory served him correctly). He felt almost as if the occasion had snuck up on him; His friends, too, seemed similarly uncomfortable, if their faces were anything to go by. (Kaiba, on the other hand, had the same this-is-a-waste-of-my-time expression as usual.)

“...He’s… My brother,” Yuugi answered hesitantly after a moment.

Hanasaki frowned in confusion. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”

“Y-Yeah, um… He, uh- He lived with relatives in Egypt for a long time,” Yuugi replied, giving a nervous smile and hoping his lies were halfway convincing. “We… He, um, moved back to Japan over the summer, and- W-Well, ‘cause we’re twins, you see, so... So we don’t like to be apart,” he finally finished stammering his “explanation”.

“I would like to reiterate that they live in the same house, and saw each other several hours ago,” Kaiba said calmly, propping his feet up on his desk and glancing at his nails boredly.

“And what difference does it make to you?” Anzu replied, shooting Kaiba a dirty look.

“My point is…” Kaiba pointed to Yuugi. “You, Yuugi, have issues.”

Yuugi tilted his head at Kaiba, raising both eyebrows. “Really? Wow, I never would have figured _that_ one out on my own,” he said, with sarcasm so falsely cheerful it was almost threatening. “Thank you, Kaiba-kun, for showing me the error of my ways. I don’t know _what_ I would have done without you being here to criticize my mental health.”

Kaiba gave an irritated “tch”, but said nothing more.

Hanasaki gave Yuugi a sympathetic look. “How come your brother isn’t at school, then?”

“He can’t enroll,” Yuugi explained, biting his lip. “He can’t just join as a transfer student, because he’s never been to school in Japan. He doesn’t exactly fit the Domino High prerequisites.”

“Why don’t you just forge some middle school transcripts and test scores?” Kaiba muttered in a mocking, sarcastic tone, rolling his eyes at Yuugi.

Jounouchi slapped a hand down on his desk as he turned to glare at Kaiba. “Dude, why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be off exploiting the working class or something?”

“Head of the torture department’s got the day off,” Kaiba responded without missing a beat.

Jounouchi blinked, frowning slightly. “That’s… That was a joke, right? Yeah? Kaiba just tried to make a joke, did everyone hear that?” he questioned.

“Your life’s a joke, Jounouchi.”

“Eh, can’t argue with that,” Jounouchi admitted with a shrug.

Anzu shot Kaiba a glare, but turned her attention back towards Yuugi. “I’m sorry you’re feeling down, Yuugi. At least it’s only for a few more hours, right? I’m sure school will be over before you know it,” she told him with a reassuring smile.

Yuugi nodded. “Yeah, I guess you’re right… Thanks, Anzu,” he replied, though he didn’t sound especially enthusiastic.

“Feel better soon, Yuugi-kun,” Hanasaki added.

“Wanna duel to take your mind off of things?” Jounouchi suggested, now ignoring Kaiba.

Yuugi paused for a moment to think about it.

“...I don’t know… I’m not really in the mood to duel,” he admitted after a little while, sighing slightly. “Sorry, Jounouchi-kun. Maybe tomorrow.”

Jounouchi exchanged worried glances with the others, but didn’t push it. “Alright. Feel better, Yuugi.”

Yuugi gave a small smile, more to reassure his friends than anything- Though his gratitude was sincere. “Thanks.”

The conversation moved on, and Yuugi picked at his lunch, trying to ignore the silence in his head.

* * *

Atem paced the room, tugging the chain of his necklace back and forth anxiously and trying to breathe.

Ever since Yuugi had left, everything had seemed kind of… Off. At first Atem had chalked it up to having a rough morning- He was tired, he wasn’t used to being without Yuugi, he was shaken up from the incident with Yuugi’s mom- But as the day went on, things hadn’t really improved. In fact, if anything he just felt worse.

Being without Yuugi was, frankly, terrifying. Even if he knew, on a factual level, that they had their own bodies now and could exist independently of each other, his instincts still told him that he wasn’t supposed to be without Yuugi. That if Yuugi was gone, something was very wrong. And the last time he’d truly been on his own, without Yuugi…

Atem shuddered, and gripped his necklace tighter. He traced the hieroglyphs carved into the cartouche with shaking fingers, trying to let it remind him that his exile was over.

After all, it seemed, nothing else would. Nothing else except Yuugi.

He knew it was irrational, but all day he’d just… _Felt_ like he was still in the Millennium Puzzle. He didn’t know _why,_ exactly- Obviously he knew he wasn’t really in the Puzzle. He knew he was in Yuugi’s room, in Yuugi’s house, the same place he’d been; And yet… He couldn’t shake the feeling. He felt isolated, trapped, alone, he felt like the future was a difficult concept to grasp- Like there _was_ no such thing as a future, there was only the here and now, eternal and unchanging and impossible to escape. He didn’t feel safe. 

...Of course, it probably didn’t exactly help that he’d spent all day alone in his room, avoiding other people. (But what else was he supposed to do? Grandpa was working, and mom… Well. He wasn’t sure either of them would have enjoyed being around each other, to say the least.)

He’d at least managed to find a few things that helped; Having the window open to let the late summer breeze in helped lessen the stagnant, sealed-off feeling, and having something to touch- Such as his necklace, or the Kuriboh Yuugi and Grandpa had given him- helped to remind him that things were real. Having the TV on also helped with the silence, though Atem found himself not terribly interested in actually paying attention.

But the feeling still wouldn’t go away. It had been hours now, and the fact that he hadn’t gotten any better only served to make him increasingly more and more anxious.

He paused his pacing to sit down on the bed, momentarily exhausted. He glanced over at the clock; It was almost noon. Yuugi wouldn’t be home for at least three more hours. Sighing, Atem reached for Kuriboh, holding it close in search of comfort.

He felt… Not right. He was shaking like a leaf, and he felt sick to his stomach, with a headache to match. He needed a change of scenery, he realized; Yuugi’s (his?) bedroom had plenty of distractions, sure, but… Something about being in one small room, alone, for hours at a time, was probably not good for his mental state. 

(At least, he hoped that was what it was, because that meant a relatively easy solution.)

Giving Kuriboh one last gentle pat, Atem hopped off the bed, closed the window, and headed downstairs.

* * *

The living room, much to Atem’s relief, was empty when he came down. 

Naturally, he went straight to the video games. On a whim, he found himself playing Tomb Raider, mostly because it was already in the Playstation- Yet he gave up relatively quickly, too distracted to play properly. 

The game also seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth, now that he’d regained his memories of Egypt; It had been easy to think of Tomb Raider as nothing but a fun adventure game when little was sacred (other than trading cards), and ancient civilizations were so distant they may as well have been fictional, but now? Now the thought of plundering ancient tombs- Fictional Atlantean ones or otherwise- Made him sick with rage. He made a mental note to ask Yuugi if they could sell the game and buy something less uncomfortable.

Now, some time later, he found himself staring blankly at the TV. He’d flipped through channels until he found something that seemed mildly interesting- Some tokusatsu show, he didn’t really know or care what it was- But the TV really acted more as background noise than anything, as he couldn’t seem to focus on that, either. Having the TV on was comforting, almost simulating the feeling of having other people in the room with him, but he seemed to find himself mostly just… Staring out the window. Hoping, pointlessly, that he might see Yuugi on his way home, even though it was only 12:30.

He wanted so badly to be with Yuugi. He couldn’t seem to think of anything else. And given how horrible his body felt, too, he wondered if his anxiety was truly just a product of his own personal psychological issues, or if they genuinely _weren’t_ supposed to be separated; He hoped Yuugi was alright. 

He sighed, glancing idly out the window once again. Still no Yuugi. (He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, really.)

As he attempted to turn his attention back towards the TV, Atem suddenly heard the sound of footsteps near the doorway; Looking up, he tensed instinctively as he saw none other than Yuugi’s mother.

“Hello,” she greeted him with an awkward smile, holding a novel in one hand. “Mind if I join you?”

Atem glanced nervously around the room, and gave a small shrug. He didn’t know what else to say.

He took a sharp, stiff breath, trying to focus on the TV, yet he couldn’t stop glancing towards Yuugi’s mother as she sat casually on the other end of the couch. He knew she wasn’t paying attention to him, too busy reading her book, but somehow he couldn’t stop thinking about the incident from earlier; He felt guilty somehow, like he was in trouble and she was just waiting to see how long it would take him to figure it out. He knew she must have been angry with him for assuming he had the right to call her “mom”... Maybe if he apologized, she would at least be a little bit more sympathetic?

“...Um,” he began hesitantly. “I’m… I’m really sorry about- What I said this morning. I- I-It was an accident, um, I promise I won’t do it again, so, uh… Um. Yeah. I’m sorry.” He curled in on himself as he finished stammering his apology. He felt so stupid, the way he spoke; Normally, he would have been able to give a much more carefully worded apology, and much more calmly delivered- No “um”s or “uh”s- But he seemed to be far too out of it to form coherent sentences. 

(He ran a hand over his face, feeling a lump in his throat as he realized how disappointed in him everyone back home in Egypt would have been. Some worthless pharaoh he was. His father had always spoken with grace, even in times of stress- Why couldn’t he?)

Mrs. Mutou glanced towards Atem. “O-Oh, it’s fine! I understand, it’s alright,” she assured him. “I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I guess I’m just so used to Yuugi being the only kid around, I forgot you’re not my kid,” she added with an awkward laugh.

Atem’s eyes widened.

He suddenly felt a little bit like he might faint. Or throw up. Or both.

“I know,” he whispered, though he wasn’t even sure what he was speaking in response to. 

Without another word, Atem stood up and simply… Walked away. His posture was so tense it almost hurt, and he gripped the hem of his shirt tight enough to distort the fabric. He didn’t look back to see Mrs. Mutou’s shocked expression; He simply kept walking, pulling himself slowly up the stairs and slinking quietly into Yuugi’s room.

He stumbled into the room, and fell gently onto the bed, not even bothering to close the door behind him. He rolled onto his side, curled up tight, and let the tears fall.

Why did it have to hurt so much?

Of course he wasn’t her kid. He knew that. Of course Yuugi’s mom wasn’t his mom. His mom was dead, he realized, she’d been dead for thousands of years. Even if Yuugi’s mom resembled her- She had the same face, the same voice, the same personality, even her haircut somehow managed to look nearly identical to his mother’s favorite wig- Even if she _seemed_ the same, she was not, and had never been, the same person. Yuugi’s mother was not Atem’s mother, and he was not her son, and he knew that- Yet it hadn’t fully sunken in until now.

His family was dead. All of them. 

It wasn’t fair.

Atem so desperately longed for what other kids had- A family, a home, a sense of belonging, supportive adults to turn to for guidance- But he could never have those things, could he? Everything had been taken from him when he was only sixteen, and now… Now, he was left to pick up the pieces by himself, and it wasn’t fair. He was struggling to recover from three thousand years of having his _entire sense of personhood_ stripped away from him; His mind had latched onto Yuugi’s mother because she was familiar to him, because he’d spent a year pretending that she _was_ his mom, desperate for some sense of stability and identity- But she _wasn’t_ his mom, and she never had been, and she never would be. He knew that now. And Yuugi’s dad wasn’t his dad, either.

He knew he needed to let his family go. They were gone, and he needed to accept it. At least he could take some comfort in knowing that they had loved him.

Would they still love him now, he wondered? Even if they knew the truth about him? Would his family still love him, knowing that the son they’d raised to be a strong and wise king was now a pathetic mess of a boy, who couldn’t even handle basic aspects of human life, who feared the dark more than death itself, who spent all his time crying, who couldn’t eat anything other than cereal without throwing up?

Could they forgive him for being such a disappointment? Would they?

It wasn’t fair, he thought to himself as he cried into the pillow. He tried so hard. He _always_ tried so hard. He didn’t think he’d ever half-assed anything in his life- He was always, _always_ pushing himself to do his best, to be strong and be kind and be smart, to do whatever it took to take care of everyone, to be someone others could look up to- But what did it matter? Where did it get him? Nothing ever went right. Everything just got worse and worse for him. He would tear himself in half if other people asked him to, and life would still spit in his face and say, _you’re not doing enough. You’re not trying hard enough._

He _was_ trying, though. He was trying so hard.

He was trying so hard, but he was so tired. He felt sick, and everything hurt.

He wished his mom still loved him.

* * *

Atem awoke to the sound of the door creaking open. He groaned, not quite ready to be awake- Yet before he’d even opened his eyes, he suddenly realized just who was there, and in an instant he was up.

“Aibou!” he gasped, leaping up to greet Yuugi.

Yuugi grinned as he wrapped his arms around Atem. “Hey!”

Atem sighed contentedly, leaning into the hug; It was good to have Yuugi home.

“How was your day?”

“It was…” Yuugi paused for a moment, debating how to answer, before sighing and biting his lip. “Honestly, not great,” he admitted. “I… I really missed you. School is… Weird, without you there.”

Atem frowned worriedly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. At least I’m home now, so nevermind all that,” Yuugi decided, shaking his head and smiling reassuringly. “What about you? What’d you do today?”

Atem paused for a moment to think about it.

“Uh… Let’s see… Well, I um… I organized our cards for a bit, and then, uh… Not really sure what I did after that,” he realized with a frown. “Then… um… I went downstairs and watched TV, realized that I apparently hate Tomb Raider now which sucks ‘cause it’s a really good game, and then I talked to your mom, and then I went upstairs and cried until I fell asleep. And now here I am,” he finished, shrugging. 

“Oh…” Yuugi’s face fell to a sad frown. “I’m sorry, Other Me.”

Atem shrugged once again. “It’s fine. At least you’re here now. Um, speaking of that, though…” Atem fidgeted slightly. “Are you- How have you been feeling today?” he asked hesitantly.

“Really anxious, but… Otherwise fine, I guess,” Yuugi sighed.

“Oh,” Atem said quietly. “I… I think there’s something wrong with me, then.”

Yuugi’s eyes widened. “What? Why?! Are you ok?!” he gasped, gripping Atem by the shoulders and looking him over frantically as if checking for damage.

Atem blinked, surprised by the sudden interrogation. “W-Well… I mean, I’ve been anxious too, but… For the past several hours or so, I’ve been really shaky. And my head and my stomach hurt, too,” he explained. “I thought- I don’t know, I guess this is kind of stupid really, but I thought maybe it was… You know, because we were separated. But I guess not.”

Yuugi opened his mouth in a gasp- And then closed it again, frowning slightly. “Wait, have… Have you, uh, had lunch?” he questioned suspiciously.

Atem went quiet for several seconds.

“...No,” he admitted after a long silence.

Yuugi took a deep breath, feeling the urge to smack his forehead in disbelief; He reminded himself, however, that Atem’s situation was far more complicated than it seemed, and he may not have even learned to associate hunger symptoms with food quite yet. Belittling him would have been cruel.

“I think that’s probably why you’re feeling bad, then,” Yuugi told Atem gently. “A lot of what you’re describing sounds like low blood sugar, and you haven’t eaten in… What… God, it’s been like eight hours now, hasn’t it?” he realized, blinking in surprise. “No wonder you don’t feel good, poor thing.”

“Is it really that simple?” Atem wondered. “I’m really just hungry?”

Yuugi nodded. “Probably. Come on, let’s go have lunch,” he decided, holding out his hand for Atem and smiling reassuringly.

Atem glanced at Yuugi’s hand, but didn’t take it. 

“I… I don’t know. I don’t think I should go downstairs right now,” he admitted quietly.

Yuugi bit his lip. “Oh. That’s… It’s ok, I understand,” he assured Atem with a nod. “In that case, you can stay here, and I’ll bring you something, ok?”

Atem nodded. “Mm. Um… Thanks.”

Yuugi smiled, and gave Atem a quick hug before turning towards the door.

“I’ll be back in a bit, ok?”

“Yeah.”

Atem gave a small wave goodbye, face expressionless as he watched Yuugi slip out the door.

* * *

Yuugi sighed as he stood over the stove, waiting for the eggs to cook. 

Making sure Atem ate properly was proving to be… A challenge. There were few foods Atem seemed to be able to tolerate, and he was reluctant to try new foods; After having settled on a diet of mainly cereal, milk, hummus, and pita while in Egypt, Japan’s very different food culture meant he had to start from square one, something that wasn’t easy. The fact that Atem mostly seemed to like carbs meant often having to make the choice between eating something “safe”, but not terribly healthy, or trying something new, and risking not eating at all.

It wasn’t Atem’s fault, of course. Yuugi knew that. Yuugi didn’t blame him at all- Hell, even Yuugi had foods that he couldn’t stand, foods that were just so weird that eating them just felt wrong. He thought, too, about how picky babies were, how they always started out with simple foods like crackers or mashed up god-knows-what before gradually trying more complex thing; Atem wasn’t a baby, of course, but it was only natural that someone who had never eaten before would struggle with the experience. Of course Yuugi didn’t blame Atem for his food problems.

He didn’t blame him, but he did worry. God, did he worry.

The other thing that worried Yuugi was Atem’s current aversion to leaving his room. Presumably, it was out of a desire to avoid encountering their mother, which… Was concerning to Yuugi. He knew Atem was having a difficult time connecting with his family, but for him to feel so much anxiety and stress around them that he was afraid to come downstairs… That just wasn’t right. And the worst part was that Yuugi didn’t know what he could do about it. He wanted to help, but how? There had to be _something_ he could do… But what?

Yuugi sighed once again as he turned the stove off, scooping the eggs onto a plate with rice. (Scrambled eggs, they had found, were one thing Atem could tolerate- Only scrambled, though.) As he reached up into the cabinet above the sink for a glass, he heard footsteps behind him.

“That’s a big after-school snack,” Mrs. Mutou commented as she sat down at the table, watching Yuugi curiously. “Don’t tell me you’re finally getting another growth spurt?”

“Must you tease me with talk of unattainable dreams, mother?” Yuugi replied dramatically, somewhere between joking and bitter. “The sandwich is for me, the eggs are for Atem.”

“Ah. Speaking of Atem, where is he?” Mrs. Mutou wondered, glancing around the room with a confused frown.

“He’s upstairs.” Yuugi replied, and then paused for a moment. 

“...Hey mom, um… Did… Something happen between you and Atem while I was at school?” he questioned hesitantly, biting his lip.

Mrs. Mutou paused, frowning as she thought about it.

“You know, I’m not really sure,” she admitted after some thought. “I- I mean, I guess so, but… I don’t really understand what happened. I’m not sure what I did to upset him.”

Yuugi frowned; He had a bad feeling about the whole thing, like his suspicions were about to be confirmed. “Well, what happened?”

“He was watching TV, I came in and sat down on the couch to read a book… He apologized for swearing earlier, I said I was sorry for yelling at him, and then he… He said, ‘I know,’ and then he just…” she shook her head in bewilderment. “He just… Got up and left. I don’t understand it.”

“What, specifically, did you say to him?”

“Uh, let me think… I think it was something like… ‘Sorry I yelled at you, I’m so used to Yuugi that I almost forgot you’re not my kid,’ or something along those lines.”

“You said _what?!”_ Yuugi blurted out, eyes widening in horror.

Mrs. Mutou blinked. “What? Is there something wrong with that?” she asked confusedly.

Yuugi smacked a hand against his forehead. “Yes! That’s- You can’t just- _Argh,”_ Yuugi groaned, dragging his hand down his face in frustration. He glanced at the food, took a deep breath, and sighed. “Look, I’ll explain later, ok? Just- Right now, Atem needs to eat.”

Mrs. Mutou once again found herself bewildered as Yuugi took the plates and hurried upstairs, shaking his head in disbelief.

* * *

Atem sat quietly on the bed, waiting for Yuugi to return; He pressed a hand to his forehead, trying to massage away the tension, and glanced idly down at his stomach as it hissed strangely.

Was he really just hungry, he wondered? Was that really the explanation for everything he had been feeling all day? It felt like it couldn’t possibly be that simple, but… The more he thought about it, the more it… Actually seemed to make a surprising amount of sense. He definitely hadn’t eaten enough.

(Even if food wasn’t enough of a priority in his mind for him to remember it existed without being told, he wasn’t an idiot. He knew living humans needed to eat more than once every eight hours- He’d seen how much his friends ate, after all.

That was what he was now, wasn’t it? A living human? The concept seemed so strange.)

Eventually, Atem heard the door open. He glanced up, and offered a smile.

“Welcome back.”

Yuugi gave a small smile in return, as he put two plates down on the desk. “Hey. I’ll be right back, I just gotta get the drinks,” he explained, and hurried back downstairs.

Yuugi glanced briefly at his mother as he returned to the kitchen, but said nothing. He let his frustration with her move to the back of his mind, thinking instead about how glad he was to be home with Atem. It was… Cute, and honestly kind of funny, the way Atem seemed to instantly perk up when Yuugi walked through the door, like a puppy eagerly awaiting attention; It was hard for Yuugi to stay upset after seeing that, really.

When Yuugi returned to his room, he found Atem already eating his eggs and rice- A good sign, given how reluctant Atem usually was to eat anything. (Or maybe it was actually a _bad_ sign, for the same reasons? Well, whatever. As long as he was eating.)

Yuugi sat down on the bed next to Atem, and wrapped his arms around him, careful not to jostle him too much for fear of spilling his food. He sighed contentedly, and closed his eyes, taking a moment to just… Savor the warmth of Atem’s presence.

God, they really did need to be together, he thought.

Atem leaned into Yuugi’s embrace, nuzzling against his cheek even as he chewed his food. “Your sandwich is gonna get cold, you know,” he pointed out, though his body language betrayed him.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. “Sandwiches are supposed to be cold.”

Atem paused, frowning in confusion, as if processing this information; After a moment, he gave a slow nod.

“Ah… Right. I hate that,” he muttered. “That sandwich I had yesterday was…” he grimaced slightly, shuttering in distaste, and shook his head. “Food shouldn’t be cold. It’s just wrong.”

Yuugi laughed slightly. “Oh yeah? What about ice cream?”

Atem paused, tilting his head thoughtfully. “Hmm… I wouldn’t know. I’ve never had ice cream.”

“Wait, you’ve never had ice cream?!” Yuugi blurted out, so shocked he abruptly let go of Atem. He stared at Atem with wide eyes, as if he had just grown two more heads.

“No..?” Atem frowned in confusion. “When would I have eaten ice cream?”

Yuugi blinked, slowly coming to understand what Atem meant.

Of course he hadn’t eaten ice cream. Ice cream was a modern food; Atem had never had ice cream, nor so many of the other things Yuugi took for granted.

“...We’ve had… Very different lives, huh,” Yuugi realized quietly, as Atem continued to eat his eggs and rice.

“That’s being generous,” Atem replied, though there was little bitterness in his voice. “I’ve never had a life before. Not really, anyway. I-I mean, I remember life in Egypt, but that was… It wasn’t really…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “This is my first time… _being._ It’s strange.”

Yuugi watched Atem thoughtfully. “Do you like it?” he wondered.

Atem paused, lowering his plate.

“...I don’t know,” he admitted after a moment. His gaze flickered towards the Millennium Puzzle at Yuugi’s chest. “I like it… better than some things, for sure, but… I don’t know. It’s just so much. When we were with our friends the other day, and at that sleepover on the boat, it was- It- It felt like everything I’ve ever wanted,” he said, with a nervous, almost erratic laugh, as if not sure if he should have been happy or afraid. “But then there’s other times where everything hurts, and I’m just so scared, and I wish I could just run away and hide and forget everything. The highs are so high but the lows are _so_ low and I just… I just don’t know what to do,” he sighed.

Yuugi nodded. “I think that’s just kind of how it is, being alive. It’s never easy for anyone.”

“No, but… Other people don’t struggle with it the same way I do,” Atem pointed out. “Honestly, the only thing I know for certain is that I never want to go back inside the Millennium Puzzle again. Not ever.”

“And you don’t have to,” Yuugi reminded him. “You’re safe now. It’s all over.”

Atem sighed, and leaned against Yuugi. “Yeah… I just wish it were that easy.”

“Mm.”

For a while, neither of them said anything. Yuugi, eventually, remembered he still hadn’t eaten his sandwich, and retrieved it from the desk before sitting back down next to Atem. The two of them ate in silence, pressed close together.

“You know… It’s funny,” Atem began after a moment. “When I was still with you, and I used to fantasize about being real… I always kinda glossed over the details. I never had a name, or a face, and there was never any explanation for me being there, and mom and dad always treated me the same… There were just so many holes that I didn’t know how to fill, so I just kind of… Didn’t?” he realized, frowning, yet laughing slightly. “I never once thought about what things would realistically be like if I were to _actually_ become real someday. It’s nothing like what I expected, but honestly, I’m not sure what I expected in the first place.”

Yuugi gave a slow nod. “I get that... Like, you know how I didn’t really have any friends other than Anzu for most of my life?”

“Of course.”

“Well, sometimes I used to fantasize about having friends- Except that my personality was never any different in my fantasies, and clearly nobody liked me the way I was, so I’m not really sure where I expected these friends to come from. Like they just kind of appeared out of nowhere.”

“But you _did_ get friends eventually,” Atem pointed out.

“That’s true!” Yuugi realized, smiling cheerfully. “And all it took was getting extorted, having something irreplaceable stolen and thrown in a swimming pool, and getting the shit beaten out of me. Funny how things work, huh?”

Atem laughed. “Yeah, how the hell did _that_ happen, anyway?” he wondered.

“Hell if I know,” Yuugi replied, laughing and shaking his head in disbelief. “But the point is- If things somehow managed to work out for me, even in such a bizarre way, I’m sure things will work out for you, too.”

“Mm… I guess so,” Atem gave in. “Thanks, Aibou.”

Yuugi grinned, and ruffled Atem’s hair affectionately as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

“I hope you’ll feel better soon, now that you’ve had some food,” Yuugi commented through a mouthful of sandwich. “Tomorrow, make sure you eat lunch, ok? I know it’s tough, but it’s really important to take care of your body. Or else you’ll wind up feeling terrible again.”

Atem nodded. “Yeah… I’ll be sure to eat tomorrow. Thanks.”

* * *

The Mutou household did not sleep peacefully that night. There wasn’t a soul in the house who wasn’t awoken by the sound of screaming at four in the morning, carrying through the walls from Yuugi’s room, raw and loud and _terrified._ The screaming was so abrupt, so unsettling, so utterly gut-wrenching that all three adults found themselves leaping out of bed, all sorts of nightmare scenarios running through their minds as they ran for Yuugi’s room.

Mrs. Mutou was the first to the door, the men not far behind, but she found no bloody scene- Just Atem.

Just Atem, sitting up in bed, clutching his head. Screaming.

“Oh my god, are you ok?!” Mrs. Mutou gasped, yet Atem gave no response. The only one who did was Yuugi, speaking rapidly to Atem in a language Mrs. Mutou didn’t understand (Arabic, she assumed? When had Yuugi learned Arabic?) and rubbing his back comfortingly.

“He’s fine, mom, just a nightmare,” Yuugi told her in hasty Japanese, and then returned to trying to comfort Atem- His words unintelligible to Mrs. Mutou, frantic yet gentle, trying to soothe. He carefully pried Atem’s hands away from his head, touching a hand to Atem’s cheek in their place.

“Is he..?” Mr. Mutou’s whisper trailed off as he stood on his tiptoes, trying to see over his wife’s shoulder.

Mrs. Mutou blinked, frowning worriedly. “I’m- I’m not-”

Her sentence was interrupted as Atem suddenly leapt out of bed. He didn’t even look up as he barreled past her and headed straight for the bathroom, with Yuugi following not far behind; A moment later, Mrs. Mutou heard the sound of violent retching.

The adults exchanged worried looks; Grandpa glanced towards the bathroom, where he could still hear muffled voices, and sighed.

“He’ll be alright,” he muttered in a tired voice, and tapped his son on the arm, yawning slightly. “Come on, go back to bed, you two.”

After one last long, worried glance towards the bathroom, the adults slowly shuffled back towards their own bedrooms, knowing there was little they could do.

...Mr. Mutou, however, lingered behind. He stayed quietly in the hall, watching as Yuugi slowly led a shaking, teary-eyed Atem down the stairs and into the kitchen; He somehow found himself following after them, though he was careful to stay quiet and out of sight.

Yuugi took a glass down from the cabinet, and reached into the fridge for the chocolate milk, pouring about half a glass. Atem, meanwhile, sat at the table, slumped over and staring blankly ahead; Something about him seemed… Numb, distant, as if he weren’t even fully conscious.

Mr. Mutou had never seen someone look so scared.

Yuugi sat down next to Atem, placing the glass of milk in front of Atem and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Atem leaned against Yuugi, and slowly began drinking the milk, still sniffling quietly; After a while, he seemed to slowly come to his senses.

“Are you feeling better now?” Yuugi asked.

Atem gave a small nod. “Yeah, mostly… I’m sorry,” he sighed, putting a hand on his face tiredly. “It’s… It’s hard when I- When I have dreams about dying, because…”

“You can still feel it?” Yuugi guessed gently.

Atem nodded once again. “Yeah.”

“I know. Me too.”

“Wait, you mean- You remember?” Atem gasped, eyes going wide with horror.

Yuugi shook his head. “No, not really… Not the way you do, anyway,” he corrected him. “It’s like… It’s like when you get a bruise, and you’re not really sure where it came from, but it’s still _there._ And it still hurts.” He touched a hand to his chest thoughtfully, glancing down as if pondering his own heart. _“I_ don’t remember, but my soul still does. Because the damage is still there.”

Atem watched Yuugi with wide eyes for a moment, thinking about this, before sighing and putting an arm around Yuugi.

“I’m sorry. And- And I know it’s not really my fault, because it was a decision we made together, but… I wish you didn’t have to deal with this.”

“Me too,” Yuugi admitted with a sigh. “But, um… uhh…” Yuugi trailed off, frowning in puzzlement as he tried to think of a positive spin on the situation. “...W-Well, it’s kinda like a cool scar, right? We got hurt doing something badass. That’s something to be proud of, right?” he suggested, giving an awkward smile.

“People can _see_ cool scars, though,” Atem pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Yuugi’s face fell.

“...Yeah. You’re right.”

Atem took another long sip of his chocolate milk, before dramatically throwing his head back with a groan of frustration. “We’re a fucking walking _nightmare,_ Aibou.”

Yuugi grimaced slightly, tilting his head back and forth as he thought about this. “I mean- I mean, yeah, but like… Well, that’s kinda goth, isn’t it? Sort of? I mean, how many people can say they’re the protagonist of some sort of terrifying psychological horror novel, am I right?” he added with a slight bitter laugh.

“Horror novels _end,_ though,” Atem argued. “When does it end for us? I mean, god, we went through this- This whole stupid adventure, we fought off all the bad guys, we gathered all the stupid Dragon Balls, and for what? Are we supposed to just live like this forever, and that’s it?” He waved a hand in disbelief. “This is bullshit.”

“Well, you’d know more about it than I would,” Yuugi replied, shrugging.

Atem made a noise somewhere between a snort and a nervous laugh. “Me? I don’t know _anything,”_ he insisted. “Nobody’s ever done anything like this before, we made the whole thing up right then and there. We weren’t thinking about the long-term resolution, we were thinking, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to die in like ten minutes and so is everybody else if I don’t do something right now.’ I’m just as clueless as you are.”

Yuugi went quiet after that, not sure what else to say. He stared silently at the table, realizing there… Really wasn’t much of a positive twist he could put on anything anymore.

It suddenly struck him how strange it was that the concept of “soulmates” was always thought of as something romantic, deep and mystical and full of warm fuzzy feelings about the universe. Something about the concept had always rubbed him the wrong way, and now he understood why; If someone’s “soulmate” was supposed to be the “other half of their soul”, what did that mean for them, as people? Did no one ever think of how awful it would be to live as an incomplete person? To always yearn for something you could never have, always haunted by an empty, primal ache in the depths of one’s soul?

The fact that some would find his existence _endearing_ and not horrific was… Unsettling to think about.

“...Let’s... Go back to bed,” Yuugi said quietly after a moment.

* * *

Tuesday, unfortunately, was not much better than Monday, despite Yuugi and Atem’s best efforts.

Yuugi could hardly drag himself out of bed when his alarm went off. He wanted to stay in bed, next to Atem; He felt like the time they’d spent together over the past evening somehow hadn’t been enough. (Or maybe he just felt like he hadn’t gotten enough sleep after they’d both forgotten to go to bed at anywhere close to a reasonable hour of the night.) And so, he initially ignored the alarm, despite Atem’s irritated growls; It wasn’t until Atem pulled a knife Yuugi didn’t even know he had out from under the pillow and took aim that Yuugi finally, hurriedly got out of bed and shut the alarm off, not wanting to have to explain to his parents why he needed a new alarm clock.

(When he’d questioned _why_ there was a knife under their pillow, and why Atem knew about this, Atem had simply shrugged and failed to elaborate further.)

It had taken almost as much effort for Yuugi to actually leave the house, with a “goodbye hug” so long and emotional Grandpa had raised an eyebrow and rolled his eyes at them- One would have thought Yuugi was going off to war with no guarantee of return, not going to school a short walk’s distance away for half a day. Atem walked Yuugi to the door, said good morning to Anzu, and watched them walk until they were out of sight, and a little longer for good measure; Once again, Grandpa found himself reminded of someone watching their brother’s ship sail out of the harbor towards war, and had to wonder just where his grandsons had inherited such a dramatic streak from.

School, once Yuugi arrived, was much the same as it had been the day before. He found himself struggling to pay attention to his teachers or his work, too occupied by his own thoughts and anxiety to focus. His friends made valiant attempts to cheer him up at lunch, and he in return tried to act cheerful, but... No one was fooled.

Yuugi simply wasn’t himself. He didn’t have any of his usual cheerful enthusiasm; Even when his friends talked about his favorite things, like Duel Monsters or any of his other favorite games, he didn’t seem to have much to say other than the occasional “Yeah” or “Oh” or “Cool”. All attempts to involve Yuugi in conversation simply fell flat, and eventually, lunch period inevitably came and went.

Yuugi glanced at the clock on the wall, and sighed, wishing it were time to go home.

* * *

It was at some point in the afternoon, as Atem sat on the bed attempting to reread Yu Yu Hakusho and anxiously bouncing his leg so intensely it was a wonder it didn’t fly across the room, that his stomach made a horribly loud noise. It sounded approximately like: “gurOOOARGHhsssssssshhhhh.”

Atem stared down at his stomach, momentarily puzzled. He knew, on some level, that this sound meant… _Something,_ but he couldn’t seem to remember what that “something” was, at least not any more than he could remember the words on the page he’d read three times over the past minute and not actually taken in; The only thing on his mind for the past several hours (or really, the whole day, if he was being honest) was how much he wanted to see Yuugi. He’d barely even noticed things like the passage of time or even his own physical needs, too distracted by anxiety and loneliness.

Now, however, he had no choice but to pay attention, as his body was being too loud to ignore. And he didn’t know _why._

Much as Atem hated to admit it, taking care of his body in his hazy mental state felt much like taking care of a baby- Always in need of something, yet unable to communicate these needs through any method other than screaming. What did it… Want, exactly? _Why_ was his stomach making that noise, and why did he feel strange inside? Did he need to go to the bathroom? No, that didn’t seem right, and he’d done that not too long ago anyway… Was he sick, maybe? Had he eaten something strange at bre-

...Ohh.

_Eating._

Eating certainly was… A thing humans needed to do, wasn’t it. He recalled his conversation with Yuugi the night before, when he’d promised to eat lunch while Yuugi was at school, having learned that a lack of food was the reason for his feeling terrible; In hindsight, he’d apparently completely failed to take this to heart, too distracted to notice any needs other than emotional ones. 

Atem glanced at the clock on the desk, and blushed in embarrassment as he read it. 2:07 PM.

Sighing, Atem sat up a bit further, swinging his legs over the side of the bed; He unintentionally knocked his Kuriboh plush to the side as he moved, and picked it up curiously, staring into its big embroidered eyes. 

“I forgot to eat again, Kuriboh,” he muttered. “I promised Aibou I wouldn’t forget to eat today, and then I went ahead and forgot anyway.”

He shook his head in dismay as he stood up, and continued. “I mean, I know he won’t be angry at me or anything, but I just- I don’t like to make him worry, you know? Or disappoint him, or anything like that… I just hate that this is even a problem,” he sighed. “Like, I’ve been alive for over a week now, and I still can’t even remember to eat? Eating is like, the second most important thing to staying alive! It doesn’t get any more basic than that, and I still can’t manage even that much!”

Atem pulled at his hair in frustration, now pacing the room.

“This is just- It’s stupid is what it is! I mean, what am I supposed to tell Aibou? I can’t tell him about this, he’ll worry too much. I’m- I’m seventeen goddamn years old, kind of, he shouldn’t have to babysit me all the time! He should be able to trust that he can go to school and I won’t just sit around rotting in my own misery because I’m too stupid to remember the basics of being alive!”

Atem kicked at the desk chair in anger, and flopped down onto the bed with a frustrated growl.

He wondered just when he’d started talking to himself so much- Or was he talking to Kuriboh? He didn’t know anymore. It didn’t matter. All he knew was that he was very lonely, and very anxious, and evidently had not eaten in seven hours.

And that he hated how pathetic he was.

Suddenly, he felt… Tired. He wasn’t angry anymore- Just exhausted, and sad. He rolled over onto his side, and reached for Kuriboh, holding it so tight in his desperation for any sort of comfort that he almost worried he might crush it; Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, and he sniffled, curling in on himself further.

Why? Why _couldn’t_ he remember basic things like eating? What was wrong with him? Surely everyone must have been disappointed in him. He was nothing but a burden, an embarrassment. He was so sure his family would have hated him for his incompetence, and the thought made him feel a little bit ill.

Atem pulled the blanket over his head, and pressed himself further into the mattress; Distantly, he wondered if the pillow was going to start growing mold or something, considering how frequently he cried on it.

He stayed there for a while, not having the will to move. He would have fallen asleep, were he not once again brought back to reality by his own stomach, loud and painful and disruptive. 

Atem groaned as he realized that he was once again avoiding the root of the problem.

Sighing, he forced himself to sit up, letting the blanket hang off his shoulders without bothering to push it away. He glanced at the door, and suddenly remembered the other, perhaps even larger, reason why he hadn’t eaten yet: Eating required him to go downstairs, and downstairs was where Yuugi’s parents were. Both of them were home that day; Yuugi’s father had chosen to work from home, as he occasionally did (One of the perks of being an editor). That meant it was going to be twice as difficult to avoid them if Atem wanted to go about his business. He knew he needed to eat- Both for his sake, and for Yuugi’s- And yet… The concept of being in the same room as Yuugi’s parents, or worse, having to talk to them, was enough to make his heart race with anxiety at the mere thought of it.

...Well… Maybe he still had a chance, right? After all, he’d spent several months sneaking around Yuugi’s parents. He knew how to stay quiet. And it was past lunch time by most standards, so maybe they would be in the living room, or outside, or maybe even not home at all if Atem was lucky.

He had to eat. He _knew_ he needed to. He had no choice but to go downstairs, before Yuugi got home.

Atem took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and headed for the door.

* * *

Atem crept carefully down the stairs, being sure to avoid the creaky points he’d long since memorized the locations of. He’d done this dance so many times; He was small, light, quiet, and he knew where to step. He had no problem making it downstairs in perfect silence.

He grinned, clenching a fist by his side in victory. He’d made it down the stairs! Now all he had to do was get into the kitchen, grab something to eat, and go back up the same way he came. Piece of cake. Pleased with his good work, he practically bounced into the kitchen, and-

There, sitting at the table, were both of Yuugi’s parents. Mr. Mutou, making a variety of unfortunate facial expressions at the papers in his hand, and Mrs. Mutou, calmly drinking a cup of coffee and watching her husband in silent amusement.

Atem froze. His breath caught in his throat. He felt his heart drop; His mouth felt dry, and his stomach heavy, his heart pounding in his chest like a lead weight.

“Oh, hello!” Mrs. Mutou greeted him cheerfully as she saw him enter the kitchen. 

Atem said nothing. He stared with wide eyes, frozen in place.

Mrs. Mutou frowned; His behavior worried her. “...Did you… Need something, or..?” she asked confusedly.

Atem continued to stare, seemingly unable to speak- He could only watch as they stared right back at him, with those strange, distant expressions, looking at him the way people looked at a wounded animal. “Um-”

Before Atem could even try to form words, he was interrupted by yet another loud growl from his stomach.

“Ah, lunch time, huh?” Mr. Mutou commented, with his usual good-natured laugh.

Atem shook his head rapidly, placing a hand on his belly as if to muffle it. “I’m fine.”

“You sure? You sound pretty hungry to me,” Mr. Mutou insisted, raising an eyebrow. “What are you in the mood for? There’s plenty of food in the- ...Oh, ok, see you later?” he muttered in confusion as Atem suddenly bolted back towards the stairs.

The kitchen’s two remaining occupants exchanged worried glances.

“That boy… I just don’t know what to do about him,” Mrs. Mutou sighed. “He worries me so much…”

Mr. Mutou nodded, biting his lip. “He’s super chatty whenever he’s hanging out with Yuugi, and he doesn’t seem to have a problem talking to dad, but whenever I try to talk to him he freaks out,” he sighed. “I asked Yuugi about it, and he said something like-”

“I mean, it’s obviously because of his… Ex-parents,” Mrs. Mutou interrupted, frowning in distaste and keeping her voice low.

Mr. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “‘Ex-parents’?”

“Whoever has raised him up until this point has been most thoroughly fired,” Mrs. Mutou explained in a terse, measured voice. “I don’t know if he’s considered an emancipated minor, I don’t know the specifics of his running away and I should probably try to find out, but I do know that anyone who tries to contact him will have to go through me first. Physically.”

Mr. Mutou stared blankly at his wife for several seconds.

“...Dear, your determination is admirable- And kind of terrifying- But, uh… You know his parents are dead, right? What are you going to do, fight a mummy?” he pointed out in confusion.

“Are they? Didn’t he run away?”

“What? No, I- Didn’t he and Yuugi explain the whole situation? With the Millennium Puzzle?” Mr. Mutou recalled with a frown.

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “Oh, come on. You don’t really _believe_ all that, do you?”

“Do you not?”

“Of course not. It’s like something out of a manga,” Mrs. Mutou replied, shaking her head in disbelief. “It’s pretty clear that it’s just a fantasy he and Yuugi made up to try to legitimatize his situation while distancing himself from the reality of it. I mean, come on, how could you genuinely believe all that stuff about- Ghosts, and magic, and all that nonsense?”

Mr. Mutou sighed. “I guess you have a point about it sounding far-fetched, but… I know the kind of stuff my dad has gotten up to over the years. And I always thought there was something weird about that puzzle.”

“Honey, you know I love your dad, but he’s a storyteller. You know how much he loves to exaggerate.”

Mr. Mutou paused for a moment, frowning as if not sure what to make of this statement, but chose not to comment. “Besides, I… I overheard them in the kitchen last night, after that whole incident,” he continued, lowering his voice slightly. “I probably shouldn’t have been eavesdropping, but… The things I heard…” He shook his head in disbelief, a worried, sad frown on his face.

“Well, what did they say?” Mrs. Mutou asked, lowering her voice as well.

“They were talking about… Their past life. And how they died.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “They were just- They both sounded so _sincere._ I know Yuugi, and I know what it sounds like when he lies to someone to make them feel better. Last night he was genuinely grieving for himself, and I… Don’t really know what to do in a situation like that,” he said quietly, with his gaze downcast.

Mrs. Mutou went quiet.

“...I don’t know. I just don’t know how I’m supposed to believe any of this,” she admitted, sighing and shaking her head. “It’s not like I want to call the kids liars- But I mean, magic? Ghosts? Reincarnation? That kind of thing just can’t happen in real life, can it? And I know how empathetic Yuugi can be, and how active his imagination is. I feel like it wouldn’t be impossible for him to get overly invested in a fantasy if his friends are involved.”

Mr. Mutou sighed. “I suppose Yuugi and I are pretty alike,” he muttered absent-mindedly. “Well… I guess things will sort themselves out eventually.”

* * *

Atem lay on the floor, eyes closed with one arm over them. The window was wide open, and the TV was on- Yet he was more listening to it than watching it, really, having mostly only turned it on just to feel less alone. He wanted to hear the sound of human voices other than his own, even if those voices were just calmly telling him the weather.

He was bored, yes, but he’d given up on finding something to do. Nothing seemed to be able to capture his attention, to make him feel anything other than an aching emptiness. He’d stared blankly at cards, at books, at the TV, even at legos, but everything seemed to just… Be things that were simply _there,_ rather than things that he interacted with. He’d developed a headache, too, so considering everything, lying on the floor and listening to the TV seemed as good a solution as any.

At least there was less than an hour until Yuugi would be home.

Atem took a deep breath, shaking himself awake and rubbing his hand against the carpet just to feel something; He’d started dozing off, drifting aimlessly through his own thoughts, and _that_ was a terrifyingly familiar sensation when combined with pitch darkness. Granted, the darkness was self-inflicted- Light seemed to make his headache worse- But still. He had to make sure he stayed in his room.

(At some point, briefly, the fact that painkillers exist had passed through his mind; Unfortunately, all the medicine in the house was downstairs, and he didn’t know what to take or how much. So that was useless to him.)

As he lay there, feeling rather like he was trying to walk a tightrope between his mental health and his headache, he suddenly heard a knock at the door. At first, his heart raced, thrilled to finally see Yuugi- But his mood fell flat as he quickly realized that the person on the other side of the door was not Yuugi. Nonetheless, he realized, he still had to answer the door.

He sighed deeply, wincing at the light as he slowly peeled his arm away from his face. He pushed himself up off the floor with a groan, and reluctantly pulled the door open, wondering what Grandpa wanted.

...Atem paused, eyes widening in shock and confusion as he came face-to-face with Yuugi’s father.

“Hey!” Mr. Mutou greeted him cheerfully, and held out a bowl and a glass of milk. “I brought you something!”

Atem blinked. “Why?” he found himself blurting out.

“Why?” Mr. Mutou repeated, frowning confusedly. “Well, uh- You seemed hungry earlier, and you haven’t come down since, so… I thought I’d bring you a snack!” he finished, with an awkward, yet sincere smile. He once again held the dishes out towards Atem.

Atem said nothing at first, staring in wordless suspicion at Mr. Mutou, as well as the food in his hands. He didn’t know what to say, in all honesty; He didn’t know why Yuugi’s father would bring him food, or how he was supposed to react. 

“...Thank you,” he said tentatively after a moment. He reached for the bowl and the glass- Pausing for a second or two, glancing up at Mr. Mutou as if to confirm that it was ok to take them- And finally, he took both, carrying them carefully to the desk.

“Just make sure you clean up any crumbs, alright? Don’t want you kids getting ants up here, you know?” Mr. Mutou said with a slight laugh.

“Mm.”

For a moment, they both simply stared at each other silently, neither sure what to say or think. After it became clear that Atem wasn’t going to say much more, Mr. Mutou flashed another nervous smile.

“Alright, well… uh… You have a good lunch,” he said awkwardly, waving goodbye. “You know where to find us if you need anything, alright?”

With that, he retreated back out of the room, pulling the door gently shut behind him. Atem sighed as the door clicked closed.

“Well, that was weird,” he muttered to Kuriboh.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Atem sat down in the desk chair, and turned his attention towards the bowl. He was fully ready to empty its contents into the garbage- Whatever Yuugi’s dad had brought him, it probably wasn’t anything he’d eat. (He did appreciate the milk, though.)

As he glanced at the bowl, Atem… Paused, and blinked, as if not sure was really seeing what he was seeing; Inside the bowl was dry cereal, and three senbei.

Had dad… Actually _remembered_ what Atem liked to eat? And brought it to him without being asked, even though it was weird?

Atem… Didn’t know what to think. He felt breathless, but not in a bad way this time; The thought that he was willing to do that… The amount of care, kindness, and thoughtfulness it took to do such a thing… Did Yuugi’s father really care about Atem _that_ much? Did he really, genuinely _like him?_ Atem’s heart raced at the thought. Maybe he had a chance after all. Maybe-

…No. He was overreacting, he realized; He was just projecting, his mind mislead by a familiar face. Yuugi’s father was _not_ his father, and never would be. The way he was treating Atem was nothing unusual; Mr. Mutou had always been a kind, thoughtful person, of course he- This was- He wasn’t- He would have done the same for anyone else, of course he would have. He was just being polite. There was no way he actually _cared_ about Atem. Atem was just desperate, it was just confirmation bias, nothing more.

Atem took a deep breath, picked up one of the senbei, and reminded himself not to expect more than he could get.

* * *

Not too long after that, Yuugi came home- And, just like the previous day, Atem and Yuugi both found themselves feeling exponentially better as they spent time together. Atem seemed to practically forget about the events of that afternoon, feeling much more energetic, eager to play games with his other half for as long as he could. 

“Hey,” Atem began as he lay on the floor, contemplating his next go move. “Did you get any homework today?”

“Yeah, just some math stuff,” Yuugi replied.

“I’ll do it.”

Yuugi blinked. “What? Oh, no, you don’t need to do that- I can handle it just fine, and it’s all stuff we already know anyway,” he insisted. “Thanks for the offer, though.”

“Staying home is so _boring,_ though,” Atem groaned.

“We’ve got plenty of toys and games,” Yuugi pointed out. “You know you’re welcome to play with whatever. My stuff is your stuff.”

“Yeah, but it’s just- It’s boring when it’s just me,” Atem sighed. “And there’s nothing new, anyway. I’ve played every game we own, I’ve read every book- Or, uh, I guess you have, technically, I dunno, but either way I’ve seen it all before. And there’s never anything good on TV during school hours either,” he added, rolling his eyes slightly as he placed his stone. “I want to at least feel like I’m _maybe_ learning something and not just lying around doing nothing, you know?”

Yuugi frowned, but nodded. “Yeah, I understand… Alright, you can do my homework,” he promised. He reached into the go bowl, and then paused, brow furrowing in confusion. “Wait, hang on. Uh… Do we… Do we have the same handwriting?” he wondered.

“You know, that’s a good question,” Atem realized, tilting his head thoughtfully. “I would think probably..? I don’t know…”

“Hmm… Ok, how about this,” Yuugi began. “We’ll pick a card, and both write down the text on it. Then we’ll compare and see if they match.”

Atem nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Yuugi and Atem both stood up, abandoning their go board in favor of the desk. Atem reached for the pencil cup, while Yuugi took out his deck and a notebook from his bag. He tore out half a sheet of paper, handed it to Atem, drew a card, and the trial began.

For a moment, the room was quiet, silent except for the diligent scritching of pencils and the ticking of the clock on the desk. After about a minute or two, Yuugi lay down his pencil.

“All done?” he asked Atem.

Atem nodded, and handed Yuugi his paper.

Yuugi took the paper- And frowned, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “What the- ...Atem, you wrote this like its _hieroglyphs,”_ he realized with a laugh, his expression shifting from confusion to amusement. 

“I did?” Atem questioned, blinking in surprise and glancing over at the papers. 

Sure enough, on one side sat Yuugi’s fairly average Japanese handwriting, messy but legible- And on the other side was Atem’s, with kana mysteriously stacked into neat little blocks, furigana added on some words for seemingly no reason other than decoration, and even a few vertical lines placed above single-kanji words. Looking at Yuugi’s paper, it became clear just how many Egyptian writing conventions Atem had instinctually followed, oblivious to the fact that Japanese did not use them; The words were entirely in Japanese, yet the way they were arranged was distinctly Egyptian. 

“...Huh. I guess I did,” Atem realized, nodding slowly. “That’s weird.”

“Hmm… I think it should be fine, as long as you don’t do that,” Yuugi decided, studying the characters on the page. “Just remember that Japanese all goes on one line, ok? And make sure you write from left to right,” he reminded him.

“I know, I know,” Atem laughed. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”

“Alright. Then yes, you can do my homework,” Yuugi announced.

Atem grinned. “Thanks, Aibou!”

Yuugi reached into his bag, searching for the homework his teacher had assigned earlier that afternoon. He watched the cheerful, sincere smile on Atem’s face, and frowned slightly; It just didn’t seem right, how genuinely excited Atem was at the thought of doing _homework_ of all things. Was Atem really that miserable at home without him? That just… Wasn’t right. The thought of Atem being alone at home all day for a week, lonely and bored out of his mind… Yuugi couldn’t stand it. Atem deserved more than that. 

“...Um… Are you ok?” Atem asked, frowning at Yuugi.

Yuugi blinked, suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. “Huh? Yeah, I’m fine, why?”

“You were staring at me with a weird look on your face,” Atem explained.

“O-Oh, I was just, um… Just thinking about some stuff, um- I was just thinking, I need to talk to mom about something later, that’s all,” Yuugi stammered in response. 

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Ok… well…” He gestured to the board. “It’s your move.”

“Oh, right! Sorry.”

Yuugi sat down across from Atem and reached into the bowl of white stones, flicking one up into his fingers with ease. He turned his attention back to the board, mapping out possibilities in his head as if by instinct, and placed his stone.

* * *

Several hours later, after dinner was over (Once again, Atem refused to eat with the rest of the family- Though fortunately, no one pressured him), Yuugi pulled his mother aside, asking to talk to her privately. She glanced at him in puzzlement for a moment, but complied, and followed him into his father’s office.

“Alright, what did you want to talk to me about?” Mrs. Mutou asked, leaning against the desk.

Yuugi paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before answering.

“...I think I should stay home from school tomorrow.”

Mrs. Mutou opened her mouth to respond, but paused before she could outright reject his proposal. “Ok, why?” she asked, raising an eyebrow with arms crossed.

“I’m worried about Atem. I don’t think he and I should be apart so much,” Yuugi explained. 

Mrs. Mutou sighed. “Honey, no. You’ve already missed enough days of school this semester,” she pointed out. “It’s sweet how much you care about your friend, but I’m sure he’ll-”

“My… ‘friend’?” Yuugi repeated, frowning in confusion. “Mom, what are you talking about?”

“-Be fine, really. If you’re that worried about him, I can check on him, but I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Mrs. Mutou continued. “He’s probably just a little bit in shock, What with running away to another country and all, but I’m sure once he’s gotten used to his parents not being around-”

“Oh my god,” Yuugi whispered, eyes going wide with realization. “You don’t believe a word we told you, do you?”

Mrs. Mutou gave Yuugi a look somewhere between exasperation, sympathy, and pity. 

“Oh, honey… I know your game is important to you, and I’m sure it means even more to Atem. I’m not trying to disrespect you two. But you need to remember reality sometimes,” she told him.

“It’s not a game, mom!” Yuugi blurted out, standing up abruptly. “Everything we told you was true! How could you- How could you just not trust me like that?!”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that those kinds of things don’t happen in real life,” Mrs. Mutou explained gently. “I think it was very brave if you to help your friend get away from his abusive parents. I know how emotional you get when it comes to your friends, and for good reason, so I know you didn’t just outright lie to me- But it’s still a fantasy story, sweetheart, even if it is one meant to help someone.”

Yuugi went silent for a moment, mouth hanging open in shock. He didn’t know what to say- He didn’t know what to think. He felt like he’d been punched in the gut.

“...You really don’t believe me.”

Mrs. Mutou’s brow creased with sympathy. “Oh, Yuugi, I’m sorry.”

Yuugi took a deep breath; His hands drifted to the Millennium Puzzle’s chain, gripping it low near the Puzzle. 

“Fine. I guess I’ll just have to prove it to you, then,” he decided. “I don’t normally like to do this sort of thing, but…”

“What do you-”

Before Mrs. Mutou could finish her question, she gasped in surprise as the room suddenly went dark. It was a far deeper darkness than just turning off the light; There were no streetlights shining through the window, no flickering indicator lights on any electronics, nothing. The room was pitch black- Except for Yuugi’s eyes, glowing bright gold, and an eerie, shimmering third eye on his forehead.

 _“Now_ do you believe me?”

Now Mrs. Mutou was the speechless one. She stared at Yuugi, eyes and mouth wide open, face pale, completely frozen in shock.

After a few seconds, the room seemed to fade back to its original state. Yuugi sighed tiredly; At the same time, the sound of hurried footsteps ran across the ceiling, causing both Yuugi and Mrs. Mutou to look up.

“Oh, I guess he noticed,” Yuugi commented idly.

Not a moment later, Atem came running into the room, eyes wide. “Aibou-”

“It’s ok, it was just me,” Yuugi assured him, waving hello.

Atem frowned in confusion. “Ok, um… Why?”

“To prove a point,” Yuugi replied simply.

Atem’s look of confusion deepened. He stood there in the doorway, looking as if his body wasn’t sure which way it was going, glancing between Yuugi and Mrs. Mutou with narrow-eyed suspicion.

“...Alright… Well… I don’t know what that means, but… I trust you,” Atem decided after a moment. With a nod, he soon slipped out of the room.

With Atem gone, Yuugi and his mother turned their attention back towards each other. Mrs. Mutou was still wide-eyed and quiet, looking lost in thought.

“My god… It’s all real, isn’t it,” she whispered, pressing a hand to her face as everything suddenly seemed to click into place: Yuugi and Atem’s uncanny resemblance, Yuugi’s sudden second language, the spontaneity of it all, all the times she’d overheard Yuugi seemingly talking to himself over the past year- The strange dream she’d had, all but forgotten up until now-

The way Atem had run away when she so casually commented on not being his mother-

“God, I… I really owe you an apology,” she realized quietly. “Both of you. And your father and grandfather, too. If I’d listened to you sooner…” She sighed, and shook her head in dismay. “I- I really don’t know what to say, other than… I’m sorry.”

Yuugi bit his lip, yet his expression softened. “It’s ok. I know this whole thing is kinda crazy, so I can’t really blame you for not believing it, really… But I think you should talk to Atem,” he added more seriously. “He’s… Been having a hard time with family stuff. I think he’d feel better if you talked to him.”

Mrs. Mutou nodded. “I know. I’ll- I’ll talk to him,” she promised, standing up.

Yuugi smiled, and idly brushed a hand over the Millennium Puzzle as he watched his mother leave the room.

He hoped- Feeling fairly confident- That now that his family truly understood what Atem had been through, they’d stop treating him like a stranger, and he would finally be able to recover.


	9. Wanna Do Crime?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone celebrated by doing crimes with their friends. And, of course, by making offerings to the day's namesake, Mai Valentine. What a legend. Thank you for your service Ms. Valentine  
> Not really sure anyone's still reading this fic tbh..? I'll keep updating anyway of course, but maybe give a shout if you're still reading? It'd really mean a lot to me!

Atem sat in the living room, idly playing Dragon Quest and, once again, waiting for Yuugi to come home. Granted, it had only been a few hours since Yuugi left; Still, the boredom and unease had set in quickly.

The previous night had been… Interesting. With no warning whatsoever, Yuugi’s mother (soon followed by Yuugi) had come into his room, seemingly upset about something, and insisted they needed to talk. At first, Atem had been terrified, assuming this meant he’d done something wrong and was about to be kicked out of the house; It had taken a few minutes for Yuugi to explain to Atem that he hadn’t done anything wrong, and only then was he finally, reluctantly able to sit down and talk.

He learned that Yuugi’s mother… Had never really believed their story. It had been too far fetched for her- Magic and ghosts couldn’t have been real, in her mind, and so based on what few “facts” she knew and what she’d observed of Atem’s behavior, she had apparently come to her own initial conclusion: That Atem was a victim of child abuse, who had met Yuugi during his visit to Egypt, quickly become close friends, and ran away with him in order to escape his parents. (The fact that his behavior apparently read as “child abuse victim” was… Simultaneously extremely disturbing, and kind of unsurprising, Atem thought.) She’d done her best to be supportive from this perspective, without realizing that what _ she  _ thought he needed was very different from what he _ actually _ needed.

Yuugi had been the one to finally convince her otherwise-  _ That _ had been the reason for the Millennium Puzzle’s magic Atem had sensed earlier. Yuugi hadn’t done much, little more than a cheap party trick, but enough to make his point. It hadn’t taken long for Mrs. Mutou to put all the pieces together after that; Atem didn’t need space and independence, he needed  _ support. _

She’d sat down with Atem not only to apologize, but also to talk things out, so she could learn more about how to help him. To learn what he really needed, and what was really on his mind, rather than making assumptions and risking doing more harm than good.

Unfortunately, talking it out was… Easier said to than done. Atem was still hesitant; He was glad to know that he’d been wrong in his assumptions about what she thought of him, and that she knew the truth now, but  _ knowing _ was different from  _ understanding.  _ It didn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t find the whole thing too weird for comfort, or decide she wasn’t really willing to deal with two kids after all. Atem was already asking too much by moving in with Yuugi’s family; How could he expect them to accommodate all his “issues”, too? Sure, mom had been the one to ask, but she didn’t know how bad things were. There was no  _ way _ she could have been prepared for all that. 

In the end, Yuugi was the one who wound up most of the talking, carefully explaining Atem’s feelings while Atem himself mostly gave vague “It’s fine”s or “I don’t care”s or “Don’t worry about it”s. Mrs. Mutou had promised Atem that he could tell her anything, and he had nodded dutifully, not really believing her (though he was sure she believed herself).

The discussion had left Atem feeling reassured in some ways, and much the same in others. He was glad to know that Yuugi’s mom genuinely did want to help him- He just couldn’t be sure how long that would last. And he still couldn’t help but feel hurt by the lack of true recognition in her eyes.

Everything would get better with time, Yuugi had promised him. He could only hope Yuugi was right. 

Atem sighed, and turned his attention back towards the TV, trying to remember what he’d been doing. (At least he was doing better with Dragon Quest than he had been with anything else- Turn-based RPGs were much more forgiving when it came to zoning out than action games were.)

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for Atem to get back into the swing of things, though he still found himself glancing towards the window in search of Yuugi every now and then. After a few battles, his mother came into the room.

“Hello,” she greeted him politely.

Atem paused, tensing instinctively- But reminded himself that he didn’t have to quite be as wary of Yuugi’s parents anymore; As long as he was careful not to say anything too weird, he was fine. He had been given permission to exist.

“...Hi,” he said hesitantly after a moment.

Mrs. Mutou sat down on the couch, her eyes flickering towards the screen. “Are you, uh… Are you winning?” she asked with an awkward, confused smile, clearly unfamiliar with the game yet trying to be supportive.

Atem shrugged. “Mostly.”

Mrs. Mutou gave a nod and a polite hum of acknowledgment- Though she still clearly didn’t have any knowledge of what “winning” in this context entailed, nor likely much interest.

“I see. Well, that’s… Good,” she decided. “Anyway, um- I just wanted to let you know that I’ll be going out to run some errands in a few minutes.”

Atem paused, glancing up. “Oh,” he replied simply.

Mrs. Mutou nodded again. “Yup. Do you, uh… Do you want to come with me, or would you rather stay home? You can do whichever you’re most comfortable with, no pressure,” she promised.

Atem blinked, not sure how to respond. He hadn’t at all expected to be invited out on errands; In all honesty, he did kind of want to get out of the house, but he want sure he was quite comfortable enough with Mrs. Mutou for something like that just yet.

“...No- No thank you, I’ll stay here,” he decided after a moment. “But, um… Thank you for inviting me.”

Mrs. Mutou nodded, and gave a reassuring smile. “Alright. I’ll be back in a few hours, then. You know where to find grandpa if you need anything, right?”

Atem nodded.

“Great. See you later, then, have a good day,” she told him with a smile.

“Oh, uh- You too,” Atem replied hastily. 

With that, Mrs. Mutou disappeared. Atem turned his attention back towards his game, glancing out the window as she walked down the street, leaving the house behind.

* * *

If there was one thing Jounouchi hated about school, it was how utterly  _ boring _ it was. 

...Well, ok, that was a lie. There wasn’t one thing he hated about school. There were many,  _ many _ things he hated about school. It was boring, yes, but it also went on for too long, and he didn’t understand a lot of the things taught in class, and everyone made fun of him for being stupid, and there were a lot of obnoxious pricks around, and sometimes Kaiba would show up and then Jounouchi would have to deal with his utterly putrid capitalist vibes being in his presence, and the building was kinda ugly, and the gym teacher was a sadistic egomaniac who hated children and women and gay people and animals, and there was one broken light in the science lab that made a horrible buzzing noise that drove Jounouchi crazy, and the vending machine in the cafeteria was overpriced, and the bathroom smelled terrible, and one time he dropped 500 yen down the drain in the locker room and he was still kinda mad at the building over that. 

All in all, there was a lot Jounouchi hated about school. 

Still… It wasn’t all bad; Occasionally he’d learn something cool in class, and hey, it beat staying at home with his sleazebag of a father. More than anything, though, school gave him the opportunity to hang out with his friends, and he loved that.

Or at least,  _ most _ of his friends. Atem didn’t come to school, and that meant Jounouchi hadn’t seen him in days.

Of course, it wasn’t like there was anything terribly unusual about not seeing Atem for several days, really- He’d always been kind of reclusive, and didn’t often come out unless he had a specific reason to. Still, even when Atem wasn’t actively talking to everyone, he was always  _ there; _ If Jounouchi wanted to duel him or even just say hello, all he had to do was ask, and there was always a chance that he’d come out to make some corny joke or comment on a duel. Atem was quiet, yes, but he was always listening. 

Now, though… Now he really  _ wasn’t _ around, and that saddened Jounouchi. Even though their friend group hadn’t physically gotten smaller, even though Atem had always been quiet, the difference was clear; It just  _ felt _ different, knowing that he was there even when they couldn’t see or hear him, vs. knowing that he wasn’t there at all. Not to mention that with Atem gone, Yuugi had gotten so depressed he hardly seemed like the same person, which affected everyone else in turn- Everyone worried about him, and nothing was as fun without Yuugi’s shining enthusiasm.

School had become incredibly gloomy, and Jounouchi hated it. And every time he thought about this, he thought about the reason for it all- Atem’s absence- And that made him even more sad, because it made him realize how much he did genuinely miss his friend. He’d almost lost him, and then he had to wait a week to see him again, and now… Now, after Atem and Yuugi had finally come home, he’d only gotten to see Atem for a day. That wasn’t enough!

How was Atem, anyway, he wondered? Was he bored at home? Did he miss them, too? Jounouchi recalled Atem had been having trouble adjusting to life in his own body, and he’d seemed a little depressed. Was he ok? Staying at home all the time couldn’t have been good for him- How was he supposed to get any better without his friends there to cheer him up?

It didn’t seem right to Jounouchi, that they were here and Atem was there. Shouldn’t they have been with Atem, supporting him? It wasn’t fair to just leave him alone and bored all week while the rest of the group hung out without him. That wasn’t cool. They should have been supporting him instead! Sure, they’d have to skip school, but so what? Since when was school more important than supporting your friends? School was temporary, but friends were forever. 

Of course, the others didn’t seem to fully agree. They  _ wanted _ to be with Atem, they said, of course they did, but they couldn’t skip school because blah blah blah attendance grades something something college.

Imagine having any grades to worry about. What a wild concept. Not to say that Jounouchi didn’t care about his grades at all, of course- It was just that even his best efforts usually got him Ds and Cs by midterms, so after a certain point it didn’t really matter, because it wasn’t like they were going to magically jump up to anything to be proud of; If he was going to fail anyway, why not live a little? What did he have to lose?

Really, what was the point in sitting in a classroom, not learning nor accomplishing much of anything, when it would have been much more worthwhile to spend some time giving his loneliest friend some company?

Jounouchi glanced up at the clock; An idea began forming in his head. 

“Sensei!” Jounouchi called out, raising his hand high.

The teacher paused, turning his attention towards Jounouchi. “Yes?”

“Can I go to the bathroom?”

The teacher glanced at the clock, frowning slightly in thought. “Are you sure you can’t wait?” he asked, with a slight apologetic tone.

“Do I  _ haaaave _ to?” Jounouchi replied in an exaggerated whine.

The teacher sighed. “No, I guess not… Just hurry back, alright? I want you back here in five minutes so we can start the next section.”

Jounouchi nodded, almost a bit too enthusiastically. “Thanks!” he shouted as he dashed out of the classroom.

With that, Jounouchi hurried down the hall, grinning with satisfaction at his victory. It was almost too easy, really; Some teachers were so naive.

Of course, Jounouchi didn’t let his guard down just because he was out of the classroom; He may not have been “book smart”, but he wasn’t an idiot. He knew how to sneak out of somewhere without getting caught, and “don’t go out the front door” was rule number one. So he headed towards the boys’ bathroom, as promised- And promptly walked straight to the window, unlocking the screen with nimble fingers and sliding it up out of his way. With one fluid motion, he hiked his leg up onto the windowsill, swung his other leg over it, and slipped outside.

Jounouchi landed on the ground outside with a gentle  _ thud,  _ feeling the warm earth beneath his feet seep through his socks. He couldn’t quite reach far enough to close the window again, but no matter; He reached up a hand and slammed on the window frame once, twice, three times, until the rickety old screen fell shut. 

He grinned to himself as he began making his way around to the front of the school, taking care to duck under any windows. Now that he was outside, it was smooth sailing forward. He continued on his way, and stopped briefly by the front entry hall to pick up his shoes and backpack- After all, “don’t go out the front door” may have been the first rule of sneaking out without getting caught, but no one said anything about going  _ in _ . Not a soul entered the room as Jounouchi calmly put on his sneakers. 

Pausing briefly to glance back at the school (God, it was almost embarrassing how easy it was to sneak out), Jounouchi slung his backpack over his shoulder and set out for Kame Game Shop.

* * *

Atem sat on his bed, arms wrapped tightly around his knees. He sat, unblinking, unmoving, perfectly silent; His eyes were wide, his teeth clenched, and his breaths came shallow and shaky. He sat frozen there, pressed against the wall, perfectly still and quiet.

His eyes were glued to one target: The Millennium Puzzle, lying almost innocently on the desk. Staring at him.  _ Watching.  _

He’d gone back and forth over what to do with the Millennium Puzzle for some time that day; He found himself uncomfortable with it, its aura suffocating him, and he’d tried shoving it in the closet where he didn’t have to look at it and it wouldn’t look at him- But every time, he panicked, every instinct telling him that he needed to wear the Puzzle or he couldn’t have been there. (He knew, logically, of course, that it didn’t matter- Yuugi wasn’t home, so it wasn’t like the Puzzle was tethering him to his body. He knew he didn’t need it, and he’d gone without it before, but today something was different. He didn’t know why.)

Eventually, unable to handle wearing the Millennium Puzzle yet unable to get rid of it either, he’d settled with putting it on the desk, where it was still in line of sight.

And now, it was watching him.

Had Atem had any clarity of mind, he might have wondered how long it had been since he’d sat down, or if anyone was coming back for him. But there was no room in his mind for that; Everything had stopped. There was nothing. There was no time, no one else, nowhere else- It was just him, alone, in a familiar-yet-unknown room, trapped. Paralyzed by the Puzzle’s gaze, that unblinking, unmoving eye, its stare suffocating him and wrapping around his mind like a lead blanket.

It wouldn’t let him leave.

No one was coming for him. No one else existed. He was alone.

The Millennium Puzzle stared.

“Man, you guys really ought to start locking your-  _ Shit!” _

Atem blinked, his sluggish brain trying to process what had happened. The Millennium Puzzle vanished; It now seemed to be on the floor, and the remnants of a loud noise echoed through his ears- Yes, he remembered now, a loud crash and a thud. Other things were on the floor (There was a floor now?), including several papers, a book, and the desk lamp (Was he in Yuugi’s room?). The books on the desk had been knocked over, the window was open, the desk chair was toppled over on the floor, and on top of it-

“...Jounouchi-kun?” Atem whispered, his voice hesitant and quiet, almost as if he were afraid to ask.

“‘Sup,” Jounouchi greeted him, pushing himself up off the floor with a groan. “Sorry about the- Woah, hey, are you ok? What’s wrong?” he gasped as his eyes fell upon Atem, noticing the state he was in; Jounouchi quickly hurried to Atem’s side, wasting no time in comforting his distressed friend.

...All of a sudden, everything seemed to happen all at once. Whatever spell Atem had been under suddenly seemed to break, and he reached for Jounouchi, throwing himself into his arms as all his emotions suddenly seemed to come back all at once.

“Hey now, wh- What are you crying for, man?” Jounouchi asked, uncertainty in his voice as Atem suddenly grabbed onto him so tight it almost hurt.

He glanced around the room as if looking for an explanation, feeling a slight bit of panic as he realized he had no idea what to do. He hadn’t expected this- He didn’t know what was going on, and a million questions raced through his head, what did Atem need, what was he supposed to do, who had hurt him? Nonetheless, Jounouchi returned the hug almost immediately, hesitantly reaching up a hand to gently caress Atem’s head.

“P-Please don’t leave me,” Atem whimpered.

Jounouchi blinked. “What?”

Atem choked out a sob, tightening his grip on Jounouchi’s jacket. “Please don’t go, I- E-Everyone’s gone and I don’t know how long I’ve been alone and I, I, please- Please don’t leave me, please stay, I’m sorry, I don’t know why everyone left please I-I’m, I’m sorry, I’m so scared please Jounouchi-kun please help me I don’t want to be alone-”

“Woah, woah, relax,” Jounouchi interrupted. “I’m not going anywhere, alright? You’re ok now. I’m here. I gotcha, bro,” he promised, speaking in a gentle, reassuring tone.

“Please don’t leave me,” Atem repeated. Jounouchi could feel him shivering.

“I won’t, I promise.”

Atem gave another sob. “I-I can’t be alone. I don’t want to be alone. Please, please I don’t- I don’t want to be alone anymore, please-”

“You’re not alone,” Jounouchi told him. “I’m here now, and I’m not leaving you. I’ll stay here as long as you need me,” he insisted. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you, no matter what. I promise you’re not going to be alone. Not ever.”

Atem whimpered, and leaned closer against Jounouchi’s shoulder. He took a long, deep breath, and choked back another sob.

“I- I’m just- I’m so scared,” he whispered. His voice was low and quiet, as if he was too exhausted to speak.

“I know, dude. I know,” Jounouchi sighed softly. He shifted his grip on Atem slightly, and leaned forwards, placing a gentle kiss on the top of Atem’s head. “Cheer up, bro. You’re ok now. I’ve got you.”

Atem sniffled, and nodded shakily, but said nothing more. 

For a while, the room was silent, save for Atem’s whimpers and sobs. Jounouchi continued to hold him as he cried into his shoulder, wondering how long it would take him to calm down, but never pressuring him; Jounouchi had said he’d stay as long as Atem needed him, and he meant it.

It took time, but Atem gradually settled down, falling quiet and still in Jounouchi’s arms. After a while, he groaned, and sat up slightly; Jounouchi took this as a sign that he’d come to somewhat.

“Better now?”

“Mm… Lil’ bit…” Atem muttered. He groaned once again, and sat up, taking a deep breath as he slowly pulled himself away from Jounouchi.

“You wanna tell me what happened?” Jounouchi asked.

Atem sighed. “I-I don’t really… Uh…” He frowned, pressing a hand against his face as he tried to think back. “I remember… Yuugi’s mom said she was going to the store, and then, uh… I went upstairs, and um… I-I don’t really know. I guess- I guess the Puzzle kinda creeped me out, and then… Um. Yeah,” He finished awkwardly, and gave a small shrug. “I don’t… I don’t know how long I was… Um… I-I dunno.” 

He bit his lip, feeling himself tear up again as he realized just how intense of a panic attack he’d been having, and for how long? How long had he been sitting on that bed, so terrified he couldn’t even _ think?  _ How long had it been since he had seen another human being?

Why hadn’t anyone come to check on him?

“Well, it’s, uh…” Jounouchi glanced at his watch. “It’s ten to noon, so… What time did your mom leave?”

“Oh. Um… I think around eleven,” Atem admitted, blushing in embarrassment as he realized the time. “I guess it… Probably hasn’t been too long, then.”

Jounouchi frowned worriedly, but nodded after a moment. “Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better now,” he decided. “You had me real worried for a minute there. I’m glad you’re ok.”

Atem sighed. “Yeah… I’m really sorry I scared you, I- ...Wait, hang on, what are you _ doing  _ here anyway?” he blurted out, as the strangeness of the situation suddenly hit him. “Shouldn’t you be at school? And… Why did you come in through the window?”

“School was boring, so I ditched,” Jounouchi replied, shrugging casually. “I came in through the window ‘cause if I went through the front door, your grandpa would chew me out for skipping school. You guys should probably stop leaving the window unlocked,” he pointed out.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Um, ok, but why are you…  _ Here?”  _ he wondered. 

“To see you, duh!” Jounouchi replied, rolling his eyes at such an obvious question. “I miss you, bro! It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever. School’s gotten boring without you around, and I figured you were probably bored too, so I thought it’d be fun to hang out today.”

Atem stared blankly at Jounouchi for a moment. 

“...You snuck out of school… To see  _ me,”  _ he repeated slowly, as if trying to process this information. 

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. “Dude, are you, like, ok?”

Atem’s only response was a noncommittal shrug.

Jounouchi frowned, looking Atem over with a look of scrutiny, taking in everything: Atem’s unkempt hair, his bare, tired face, his hesitant posture, his strange combination of cargo shorts and ancient Egyptian fashion. He thought about the state of terror he’d initially found Atem in, and he thought about the room, quiet and obnoxiously tidy (save for the mess Jounouchi himself had made, when his dirt-covered socks had inevitably slipped on the slick wooden surface of the desk).

He looked at Atem, put his hands on his hips, and gave a decisive nod.

“You know what I think? You need to get out of the house,” he told Atem in a matter-of-fact tone, nodding once more.

Atem sighed. “Yeah, probably,” he admitted.

“How about we go out, then? We could hit the arcade, it’s probably nice and quiet at this time of day,” Jounouchi suggested. “What do you think?”

Atem tilted his head curiously; It  _ did _ sound much more appealing than staying at home. “Alright, sure, why not? Sounds fun,” he decided.

Jounouchi grinned. “Great! Let’s just get this stuff cleaned up first,” he said, nodding towards the mess on the floor.

Atem nodded, and stood up to help, gathering loose papers as Jounouchi carefully lifted the chair upright again. Within a few minutes, the desk was back in order, albeit a bit dusty.

“Alright, let’s-” Jounouchi paused suddenly as he began to climb back onto the desk. “...Wait, hang on,” he muttered; He glanced down at himself, frowning thoughtfully, and then looked to Atem. “Do you think I could pass for eighteen?”

“Uh… Sure, I guess..?” Atem replied, shrugging confusedly.

Jounouchi nodded, and climbed down from the desk, taking off both his backpack and his jacket. Atem could only watch, baffled, as Jounouchi- With no warning whatsoever- Suddenly took off his pants, opened up his backpack, took out a pair of jeans, and pulled them on as casually as if he were in his own bedroom.

“Alright, let’s go,” he said, as he tucked the end of his belt into the loop on his jeans, and climbed up onto the desk. “If anyone asks, I’m a college student with evening classes.”

“God, what’s it like, actually looking your own age?” Atem muttered bitterly, grabbing the Millennium Puzzle and following Jounouchi through the window and out onto the fire escape.

“Eh, kinda boring, I guess,” Jounouchi said as he sat down to put his sneakers back on.

“I am entirely certain that anyone who sees us is going to think I’m in middle school.”

“Aw, come on, you don’t look  _ that _ young!” Jounouchi assured him with a laugh.

Atem gave Jounouchi a silent, sarcastic stare. Jounouchi blinked at the big, angular eyes that glared up at him, framed by soft cheeks.

“...Yyyyeah, ok, you  _ do _ kinda look like a really mean twelve-year-old,” Jounouchi admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward, apologetic grimace.

Atem sighed, and shook his head in dismay, but said nothing more. He began climbing down the ladder with ease, having done so many times before.

“Aren’t you gonna put on shoes?” Jounouchi called down after him.

“Nah,” Atem replied simply. 

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, but decided not to question it. He followed Atem down the ladder, landing on his feet with a gentle  _ thud. _

“Let’s go around the back, so Grandpa won’t see us,” Atem suggested.

“Good idea.”

As they walked, Atem hissed in discomfort, bouncing from foot to foot slightly; The concrete sidewalk was hot and rough beneath his feet, scratching at his skin like sandpaper.

“You ok?” Jounouchi asked, noticing Atem’s reaction.

“I see why everyone wears shoes now,” Atem muttered, grimacing at the sidewalk. “I’m used to dirt or stone roads…”

Jounouchi frowned in sympathy. “Do you want to go back? Grab some shoes?”

Atem shook his head. “Nah, my shoes are downstairs anyway… I’ll be fine, I’ll get used to it, I just… Ugh.” He gave a snort of irritation, rolling his eyes as he followed after Jounouchi.

After walking a short distance, Atem paused, looking back at the house. Jounouchi stopped after a moment as well, glancing curiously at Atem’s thoughtful expression.

“What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing really, I was just thinking… This is the first time I’ve been outside without Yuugi,” Atem realized.

Jounouchi blinked in surprise. “What? Really?”

“Yeah.”

“So you haven’t even like… Gone for a walk or anything while Yuugi’s at school?” Jounouchi questioned.

Atem shook his head. “No. To be honest, it never even occurred to me to try,” he admitted. “I’m so used to only going where Yuugi takes me, so I guess… I don’t know. It’s like, the house is where Yuugi left me, so the house is where I exist- Does that make any sense?” he wondered, frowning in puzzlement.

Jounouchi frowned as well. “Uh… Maybe..?”

“I mean, it’s not like I didn’t  _ know _ I could leave the house,” Atem clarified. “It’s just that… You know, it’s not something I ever really did before, so it’s not something I would think about. I guess.” He shrugged.

“Yeah, that makes sense… I think.” Jounouchi glanced thoughtfully at Atem, and then continued walking. “Well, first time for everything, right?”

Atem nodded. “Yeah.”

Atem glanced around thoughtfully as he followed Jounouchi down the sidewalk, still feeling its hot, coarse surface sting his feet, yet too intrigued by his surroundings to care; He’d been this way many times, of course, but this time was a different experience. This time, he was the one physically  _ going _ to the arcade, rather than idling in the back of Yuugi’s mind or floating alongside him. It was… Different.

Jounouchi was right, he realized- Getting out of the house really did feel better than staying in Yuugi’s room. Outside just felt so…  _ Alive. _ He could feel the hot sidewalk under his feet, the sun and the breeze on his skin, warming his chest through the fabric of his familiar old shirt; He could smell all kinds of things, car exhaust and flowers and food from every restaurant they passed. Every building had something to look at, and sometimes they’d pass other people, going about their lives as humans did.  _ Living. _

The whole thing was just a little bit overwhelming, yet it felt so much better than being alone Yuugi’s room, where nothing ever changed other than what was on TV and what toys Atem left abandoned on the floor.

Atem took a deep breath, reveling in the feeling of the fresh air. God, he’d needed this so badly. 

“Hey… Thanks for coming to see me,” he told Jounouchi. “And thanks for taking me out. It really means a lot.”

“No problem, bro! I’ve missed hanging out with you,” Jounouchi replied. “How’ve you been, by the way?”

“Eh… Not great. And I’m really sorry for freaking out on you earlier,” Atem added more quietly, biting his lip.

Jounouchi shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry about it, man. I’m just glad I could help,” he said, offering a reassuring smile- And then frowned, his expression changing to one of worry. “Does that kind of thing… Happen to you often?” he wondered quietly.

Atem sighed. “Kind of. Not- Not always exactly like that, but… Along those lines, yes.”

Jounouchi paused.

“...You wanna tell me what’s up?”

Atem glanced up at Jounouchi, watching his expression. The way Jounouchi looked at Atem was concerned, yet calm, questioning, serious yet gentle; Atem knew, without needing to be told, that this was an invitation for him to get things off his chest. To talk about things he wouldn’t tell anyone else.

“...I don’t know, I guess… It’s just really hard for me, with Yuugi being at school all the time. I… I really don’t think I should be left alone,” he admitted, biting his lip.

“How come?” Jounouchi questioned.

“Because… like…” Atem sighed, fiddling with the Millennium Puzzle as he tried to think of how to explain the issue. “Um… You remember what we talked about, back in Egypt? After I passed out?”

“Telepathy?”

“N- No, not that,” Atem corrected Jounouchi with some brief level of amusement, raising an eyebrow. “About… You know. Isolation. And how long I was in the Puzzle.”

“Oh.” Jounouchi frowned. “Yeah, I remember. What about it?”

“It’s like… I don’t know… I feel like I keep going back to that. O-Or thinking that way. Whenever I’m alone, I start to feel like I’m… Back there again,” he admitted hesitantly. “And obviously I know I’m not, but it still somehow  _ feels _ like it. Emotionally. It’s like,  _ I _ know where I am, but my brain doesn’t- You know?”

Jounouchi paused, brow furrowed as he tried to understand. “Hmm… I guess I don’t really  _ get _ it, but… I think I understand what you’re trying to say,” he said with a nod.

“It’s like- I guess maybe because I was in there for so long, it’s… Kind of like my mind’s default state now, I guess? Does that make any sense?”

Jounouchi nodded. “Yeah, I gotcha. I’m sorry.”

“Right. So if I’m not constantly reminded that I’m not alone, I kind of… Go back to that,” Atem continued. “I  _ need _ to be around people. I need reminders. I really kind of always have to have someone talking to me, or- Or touching me, or- Even just in the room with me, really, but with Yuugi gone most of the day… I’m not getting that,” he sighed. “It’s really not good.”

“Geez, that’s fucked up… What about your family?” Jounouchi wondered.

Atem shook his head. “Grandpa’s working, and Yuugi’s parents- ...Uh, it’s- It’s complicated,” he muttered awkwardly. “Hey, come to think of it- What day is it, anyway?”

“It’s Wednesday, my dude,” Jounouchi answered.

“It’s only  _ Wednesday?!”  _ Atem groaned, throwing his head back in frustration. “Fuck...”

Jounouchi gave Atem a sympathetic look, and went quiet for a few minutes, as they continued walking.

“Have you talked to anyone else about this?” He asked after a moment.

Atem shook his head. “No.”

“Well, why the hell  _ not?”  _ Jounouchi blurted out in surprise. “That’s like, kind of a big issue. If you can’t be alone, you gotta tell someone, man.”

“I know, but I just- I mean, what would be the point?” Atem wondered, shaking his head in dismay. “Yuugi’s at school, so it’s not like he can do anything about it. And like I said, Grandpa’s always working, and Yuugi’s parents…” He sighed. “I don’t know… I just don’t want to bother them.”

“Man, fuck worrying about ‘bothering’ people,” Jounouchi replied, shaking his head. “If what was going on before I showed up is a regular occurrence, then- That’s not ok. You have to tell someone,” he insisted. “Like, at least ask your grandpa if he has advice or something.”

“I know it’s not ok. But I just- I’m already asking so much of everyone. And I feel so awful about it. I feel terrible every time I have to ask for help with  _ every _ little thing, all these things that I shouldn’t even need help with to begin with… It feels like I can’t do anything on my own, and that’s not fair to anyone else,” Atem said softly, staring at the ground in front of him. “I can’t ask them for one more thing. I can’t.”

Jounouchi sighed, and stopped walking for a moment.

“Listen… I get it,” he told Atem, in a serious tone. “I know how hard it is when you need way more help than everyone else does, with things nobody else seems to need help with. I know exactly how it feels to think you’re nothing a burden, and that you’re stupid and useless and should just suck it up and accept that you’ll never amount to anything. I  _ get _ it,” he admitted softly, biting his lip at the memory. “But I know now that that’s a bullshit attitude, and you know why?”

Atem glanced at Jounouchi, unsure what he was getting at, but too tired to care. “Why?”

“Because you taught me it is.”

Atem blinked. “Huh..?” he muttered in confusion

“You and Yuugi- You were the ones who taught me that it’s ok to ask for help, even if other people don’t seem to need it,” Jounouchi recalled. “I mean, look at my dueling skills. Used to be I could hardly duel at all without you and Yuugi talking me through every step… Hell, remember when my deck was nothing but monsters?” he added, with a slight laugh.

“I remember,” Atem confirmed, a hint of amusement on his face.

Jounouchi nodded. “You were pretty much the only person- Er, people, I mean- Who never really talked shit about me or anything,” he admitted. “You showed me how to be a better duelist, and you always helped me, even in situations where even a beginner would have known what to do. You helped me every single time I needed it, no matter how ridiculous it seemed, until eventually I  _ got _ it. And look at me now!”

“You  _ have _ improved a lot,” Atem agreed.

“Sure have! I didn’t come in fourth in Battle City for nothing!” Jounouchi said with a grin. “But I’ve only come this far because I had you guys helping me. You taught me that it was ok to ask for help, and if I hadn’t learned that lesson… Honestly, I have no idea where I’d be now,” he finished a bit more quietly, staring thoughtfully into the distance. “My life has changed a lot since we became friends. It’s a hell of a lot better than it was.”

Atem smiled. “I’m glad.”

“Yeah, me too. But the point I’m trying to make is… You can’t just ignore all your problems just because you feel bad about asking for help,” Jounouchi continued, giving Atem a worried look. “That’s not being fair to yourself. It’s ok to need help, but you’re not going to get any better if you don’t give yourself the chance,” he insisted. “And I know if it were me, you’d say the same thing.”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right,” Atem gave in with a sigh. “I don’t know… It’s just really hard not to judge myself. You know, lately I-” he paused, taking a deep breath and biting his lip. “...I keep thinking about… My parents. Back in Egypt, I mean.”

“What about them?”

“It’s just… I mean… I was raised to be a king, you know? I was supposed to be this smart, calm, strong leader, and… And look at me now.” Atem sighed, and dragged a hand down his face. “I can’t do anything right… I don’t know, I know it’s stupid to worry about the hypothetical opinions of dead people, but lately I keep thinking about my family… And I think about everything they taught me, and all their expectations for me, and I can’t help but feel like they’d be so disappointed in me now,” he admitted quietly, voice shaking slightly.

Jounouchi gave a snort of disbelief, almost a laugh, inappropriate though he knew it was. “You’re kidding me, right? You’re seriously worried about being a  _ bad king?!”  _ he blurted out.

Atem blinked. “I mean-”

“Dude, come on. Are you even listening to yourself right now? Man, you went so fucking balls to the wall with the whole ‘protecting your country’ thing that you literally  _ imprisoned a god, _ put yourself in a coma, woke up three thousand years later, managed to _ kill  _ a god even with amnesia, and then came back from the fucking dead,” Jounouchi pointed out. “I should think that ought to fuckin’ count for something! You did  _ all that,  _ all while you were still a teenager, and you _ seriously  _ think you did a bad job? Really?”

Atem went quiet for a moment.

“...Yeah, I guess it does sound pretty stupid when you put it that way,” he conceded, blinking in surprise.

Jounouchi laughed, and gave Atem a reassuring pat on the back. “Besides, who the hell cares, anyway? All that shit’s over. You’re retired now. The only thing you’re king of now is King of Games,” he pointed out. “...Although, come to think of it- I guess officially that’d be Yuugi,” he realized, frowning in confusion.

“I guess that’s true.”

“Hey, now that I think about it, wasn’t that like, a whole thing in ancient Egypt?” Jounouchi recalled. “Like, you do your thing, and then you die, and then you go to the afterlife and don’t have to worry about anything ‘cause you don’t have any responsibilities anymore?”

Atem shrugged. “Yeah, more or less, I guess.”

“Well, there you go, then! You did your best, and then you died, and now you can just chill out because none of it’s your problem anymore. So don’t worry about whether or not you’d be a good king now, ‘cause all that shit’s over and done and not your problem, alright?”

“I… I  _ guess  _ that’s one way of looking at it,” Atem said, frowning in thought. “I dunno… But yeah, I do see what you mean. I’ll… Try not to overthink things so much.”

“Glad to hear it. And hey- One more thing,” Jounouchi added.

“Hmm?”

Jounouchi put a hand firmly on Atem’s shoulder.

“You’re one of my best friends, you know. And I don’t let  _ anyone _ talk shit about my friends,” he said seriously. “Anyone who has a problem with you is going to have go through me first, including you, and including your dead parents. So don’t you go beating yourself up, or I’ll kick your ass,” he declared, giving Atem a stern look.

Atem blinked, slightly stunned. “I… Y-Yeah, I understand. You’re right,” he gave in, with a slow nod. “I’ll… I’ll try to be nicer to myself from now on. Thanks, Jounouchi-kun.”

Jounouchi grinned, and relaxed slightly, dropping his hand from Atem’s shoulder to squeeze his hand reassuringly instead. “Great! Now that that’s settled-” Jounouchi paused midway through his sentence, and turned away, sneezing loudly onto the sidewalk.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “You ok?”

“Y-Yeah, something tickled my nose, that’s all,” Jounouchi muttered, rubbing at his nose. “Anyway… Ready to go play some games?”

Atem nodded. “Yeah!”

Jounouchi grinned; Atem smiled back, feeling just a bit more confident as he followed Jounouchi on towards the arcade.

“Really, though… Thank you,” Atem said softly, as they walked. “I… You know, it’s…” He paused, taking a deep breath to try to steady his voice. “I think- It’s hard to get better, when I… When I spend so much time hating myself. I just always feel so guilty and ashamed for- For the way that I feel, and the way that I am, so… Thank you. For telling me that it’s ok. I-I think I needed that perspective.” He wiped his eye as he finished, sniffing just a little bit.

Jounouchi frowned worriedly, but gave Atem’s hand another gentle squeeze. “Yeah, I get that. Just remember, like I said- You’re my friend, and I don’t let anyone talk badly about my friends, not even themselves. So remember that when you’re feeling shitty, alright?” he said, with a reassuring smile. “I love you so much, bro. Don’t ever forget that.”

Atem nodded. “Yeah, I know. Thanks. I love you too,” he replied sincerely, smiling back.

* * *

“So,” Honda began calmly, as he unpacked his lunch. “Where do we think Jounouchi went?”

Yuugi glanced at the clock on the wall, and frowned with worry. It was just after 12:30. Jounouchi had left class to use the bathroom just about an hour ago, now, and hadn’t been seen since; If he wasn’t feeling well, it clearly wasn’t exactly your run-of-the-mill upset stomach.

“I don’t know… He’s been gone a really long time,” Yuugi muttered, biting his lip.

“I wonder when he’ll come back,” Bakura added with a frown.

“I’m pretty sure at this point it’s less of a question of ‘is he coming back’, and more of a question of ‘where did he go’,” Anzu sighed. “You know Jounouchi, he wouldn’t skip out on lunch. If he’s not back now, he’s not going to be back any time soon.”

“I hope he’s ok,” Yuugi sighed. “I wonder if he got into a fight or something…”

“Maybe he got kidnapped,” Bakura suggested.

Yuugi frowned slightly. “Is there even anyone left to kidnap him, though? I mean, I thought everyone who had a grudge against us was dealt with by now.”

“Hey, you never know. Remember that time Anzu got kidnapped by Pegasus’ freaky apprentice or whatever?” Honda replied.

Anzu shuddered at the thought. “Ugh, don’t remind me!”

“Wait, what? I don’t remember that,” Bakura interrupted with a frown. “When was that?”

“You weren’t at school that day. That was the day you got food poisoning ‘cause you ate a whole box of sushi you found in the garbage,” Honda recalled, shaking his head in dismay.

Bakura gave a cheerful, innocent laugh. “Oh yeah, I remember that now!”

Yuugi smacked his forehead in disbelief.

Anzu sighed. “Look, Bakura’s terrible habits aside- What do we do about Jounouchi?” she wondered, trying to bring the conversation back to the topic at hand.

The group exchanged glances; It was clear that no one quite knew what to do, having no clue what had happened to Jounouchi or how to respond to the situation.

“...Honestly, I think I’ve got a pretty good guess where he went,” Honda sighed after a moment.

“Really? Where?” Anzu asked, as the others gave Honda questioning looks.

“I think he’s probably at Yuugi’s house.”

Yuugi blinked, surprised by this answer. _ “My  _ house? Why?” he wondered in confusion.

“Well, think about it. He keeps complaining that he misses Atem, and like Anzu said, he didn’t seem like he really intended on actually going to the bathroom at all,” Honda pointed out. “My guess is, he probably ditched school to go hang out with Atem, and now I’m sure they’re having a great time dueling or committing crimes or something while the rest of us suckers are stuck in class.”

“Huh… You think so?” Anzu muttered, tilting her head thoughtfully.

Honda shrugged. “I think it’s a lot more likely than him getting kidnapped, since he’s not exactly easy to take down, and there aren’t any more freaks with Millennium Items running around- No offense, you two,” he added, glancing at Yuugi and Bakura.

“None taken,” Yuugi and Bakura replied in unison.

“Hmm… I guess you might be right,” Yuugi admitted with a nod. “I doubt they’d be committing crimes, though.”

“Eh, I dunno… They’re both good guys and I love them, but the two of them together?  _ Unsupervised?”  _ Anzu gave a sigh, and shook her head in disapproval. “They’re almost guaranteed to get into trouble.”

“Exactly.”

Yuugi huffed. “Geez, you guys, have a little faith in them! You’re so mean!” he exclaimed. “You know how much they’ve both changed over the past year. They’re not like that anymore. You can’t just assume they’re causing trouble, that’s not fair to them,” he insisted, with arms crossed.

“Yeah, Yuugi’s right!” Bakura agreed. “People change. I bet Jounouchi-kun and Atem-kun are being perfectly nice. Assuming that’s where Jounouchi-kun is, anyway.”

Anzu and Honda exchanged glances.

“...Well, I guess maybe you do have a point,” Anzu admitted. “Sorry.”

“I guess we’ll find out later,” Honda said with a shrug.

Yuugi glanced once again at the clock, and hoped Jounouchi was alright.

* * *

Atem gripped the plastic steering wheel tightly, eyes glued to the big screen in front of him. The fact that he was so short that he had to sit all the way forward, precariously balanced on the very edge of the seat, didn’t seem to hinder him much; He handled the arcade racer with expert precision, deftly avoiding every obstacle, his feet working the gas and brake pedals with impeccable reaction timing.

(Well... He handled it with expert precision, and a lot of thigh and ab strength. The chair, in all honesty, might as well not have been there at all.)

The arcade, as predicted, was fairly quiet- Not empty by any means, but far less busy than weekends or evenings, with only a handful of college students and the odd rogue child or older adult. Few games had any lines, save for the most popular machines, and even those usually only had one or two people in line. Atem and Jounouchi had wasted no time in taking advantage of the situation, hopping from game to game and lingering on their favorites without having to worry about a time limit.

Atem loved the arcade. It was overwhelming, yes, noisy and high contrast, but in comparison to how painfully understimulated he’d been at home, it was a godsend. The arcade was his element, a safe haven away from his troubles; He didn’t have to talk to anyone, or do anything he didn’t want to. It didn’t matter if he could eat the way other people could, or if he had a family, or if he had school records, or if he was afraid of mundane things- All that mattered at the arcade was one’s gaming skills, and how much they had to spend. Games were the one thing Atem could do beyond any doubt, and it was easy to get sucked in, all his problems put out of mind in the heat of the game. 

Like now, as he focused all his attention on beating Jounouchi at one of their favorite racing games. 

Atem glanced over his shoulder for just a split second, sensing movement out of the corner of his eye; Someone had gotten in line behind them. He paid it no mind, and quickly returned his attention to the game, careful to make sure he didn’t let Jounouchi’s car overtake him in the race.

Atem and Jounouchi proceeded through the game’s stages with enthusiasm, hearts racing as they dodged cars and veered around sharp turns. All the while, they kept close eyes on each others’ cars, each fighting for first place- And, of course, every moment of the action was narrated with shouts. 

“Shit, shit, shit, shit!” Jounouchi hissed, yanking his steering wheel to the right. “Man, I hate that turn!”

“Maybe you just need to get good,” Atem teased, sticking his tongue out and grinning.

Jounouchi snorted. “Yeah, you won’t be saying that for long, punk!”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Oh  _ yeah?!” _

_ “Yeah!” _

“Prove it, then!”

“Don’t mind if I do!”

As Atem and Jounouchi fought for the lead, the person behind them leaned in, intrigued by the action.

“Hey, you guys are pretty good,” he commented, glancing towards the screen. “Would it be alright if I played the winner? It’s been a while since I played PVP.”

“Sure,” Jounouchi replied hastily, not taking his eyes away from the screen for even a second.

“Fine with me,” Atem agreed, and grit his teeth as he pushed towards Jounouchi’s car.

The tension remained just as high until the very last second, as Atem’s car slid across the finish line. Both players let out tired sighs as they finally let themselves relax, arms falling to their sides.

“Nice try, but you didn’t stand a chance,” Atem said with a smirk- Though their banter was good-natured.

Jounouchi let out a huffed laugh. “Yeah, just wait ‘till next time.”

As they both climbed out of their chairs, Jounouchi glanced at the person behind them- A tall young man with messy hair and a cartoony T-shirt. “Oh yeah, you wanted to play the winner, right?” he recalled.

The stranger nodded. “If it’s alright with you, of course,” he added, turning towards Atem.

“Sure, I’m game,” Atem replied.

“Great! I’m Takumi, by the way,” the young man said, with a friendly smile.

Atem nodded in polite acknowledgement. “I’m Atem, and this is Jounouchi. Nice to meet you.”

Takumi raised an eyebrow. “Atomu? Like Astro Boy?”

“No, it’s Atem,” Atem corrected him. “‘Te’, not ‘to’.”

“Interesting name. Where are you from?”

“Egypt.”

“Huh. Your Japanese is really good.”

Atem resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the comment, and began to climb back into the chair, ready to play now that the small talk was over.

“Oh, by the way, before we start,” Takumi continued, “How would you two like to make things a little more interesting?”

“What do you mean?” Atem asked.

“Well… How about we raise the stakes, make a little bet?” Takumi suggested, a hint of a smirk on his face. 

“A bet?” Jounouchi repeated, frowning slightly. Atem mirrored his expression.

“Only if you want to,” Takumi clarified, and then put his hands up in an innocent shrug. “Of course, if you don’t think you can win, I totally understand. I just thought-”

“Woah, woah, we never said that!” Jounouchi interrupted, stomping his foot slightly- Atem was unsurprised to see how quickly Jounouchi got fired up when pride was on the line. “How much you wanna put up?!”

Takumi grinned. “How’s 10,000 yen sound?”

Atem glanced at Jounouchi, unsure of how to react (How much was 10,000 again? More than he had with him, he was sure, but beyond that he didn’t know). Jounouchi, however, burst out laughing.

“Ten  _ thousand?!” _ Jounouchi blurted out. “Man, are you crazy? You really want to put up  _ that much?!  _ You’re just digging your own grave, dude!” he laughed. 

“I know what I’m about,” Takumi replied calmly. “After all… They don’t call me Takumi for nothing,” he added with a smirk.

Atem and Jounouchi looked at him with blank stares.

Takumi’s confident posture quickly deflated. “What? Don’t tell me you guys don’t know Initial D?” he gasped, practically whining in disappointment and disbelief.

“I… Know  _ of _ it,” Atem replied flatly, with a slight frown. “I can’t say I’ve really-”

“Yeah, of course we know Initial D! We don’t live under a rock, ya know!” Jounouchi retorted, ignoring Atem. “But, uh… Does anyone actually call you that, or is that just something you made up?” he wondered, raising an eyebrow at Takumi with a hint of sarcasm.

Takumi scowled. “Look, do you want to take the bet or not?”

“We’ll take it,” Atem replied, without hesitation; His decision had already been made.

“Great! This should be an interesting race, then,” Takumi said with a grin, as he climbed into the seat next to Atem.

Atem followed, calmly slipping his 100 yen into the coin slot. Takumi did the same.

“Good luck, and may the best racer win,” Takumi said, smiling once again as the car selection loaded.

Atem’s gaze flickered briefly towards his opponent. “Mm.”

Atem didn’t linger too long on the car select screen. It wouldn’t make too much of a difference which car he chose; He knew, already, how the race was going to go. He’d had plenty of time to puzzle it out as they’d talked. 

Something had just seemed…  _ Off _ about the whole bet. At first, Atem had had little reason to believe Takumi’s intentions were anything other than what he’d said: Just some fun, just to make things more interesting. Yet something didn’t feel right about the way he behaved; He seemed to almost taunt them, yet at the same time went out of his way to make them feel comfortable, reassuring them that they didn’t have to take the bet if they didn’t want to. It seemed to Atem that he was trying to present himself as trustworthy, friendly, with the bet nothing more than some casual fun, so they’d have little reason to refuse. Maybe he really was just bored, but… It seemed odd to Atem that he would want them to take the bet that badly. What was he hiding?

It was Jounouchi’s reaction that confirmed Atem’s suspicions. Takumi had bet, judging by Jounouchi’s words, an unusually high amount of money. Nobody would bet so high on something they weren’t confident they could win; He had seen Atem and Jounouchi’s skills, yet he’d still initiated an exorbitantly high-stakes bet. He didn’t seem like your run-of-the-mill reckless gambling addict, either. That meant that he was confident, to the point of complete assurance (or close enough to it, anyway) that he could beat any opponent, even the most skilled players- And _ that _ meant he had to have something up his sleeve. Something to give him an edge beyond just good gaming skills.

In other words, it meant he planned on cheating.

Idiot.

It hadn’t taken long for Atem to figure this out, and it hadn’t taken long for him to figure out the method, either. There was exactly one surefire way to cheat at Sega Rally Championship, one Atem knew well: A glitch on the third stage, only achievable under the right conditions, though it was easy to get the hang of once it’d been learned. All it required was for the player to be driving the Celica on manual transmission, and a little careful timing; If, under these conditions, one were to take a hard left rather than a hard right at the hairpin right turn, and switch into the fourth gear, it was possible to clip through the walls of the map, and arrive back on the course just before the third checkpoint. 

Atem had done this several times with Yuugi- While playing “solo”, of course, just messing around for the hell of it. He’d never considered using it to cheat, but he knew it was a perfect opportunity for the more… Rudely inclined. He knew he and Yuugi weren’t the only ones aware of the glitch, so naturally it would only have been a matter of time before some asshole would come along, ready to use the glitch to ruin someone’s day- And, just as Atem had predicted, Takumi had chosen the Celica on manual. Seemed Atem had found the asshole in question.

Well…  _ Someone’s  _ day was going to get ruined, for sure, but it wasn’t going to be Atem’s. That much he was quite certain of.

The race, of course, proceeded fairly unremarkably for the first two courses; It didn’t take long for Atem to claim the lead, with Jounouchi cheering behind him. He knew this didn’t make any difference to Takumi- But it didn’t make a difference to Atem, either. Better to let Takumi think Atem didn’t know what he was up to, anyway.

It was at the third stage, the mountain track, that things got interesting. Atem kept his lead at first, but carefully fell back just so slightly as they approached the hairpin right, and then-

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” Takumi shouted as Atem suddenly rammed his car between Takumi’s car and the wall, pushing him away towards the right. 

Atem let out a mischievous “Heh,” but otherwise said nothing; He quickly accelerated his car, once again regaining his lead, leaving a slack-jawed Takumi behind as he sped along the rest of the course.

It didn’t seem like much of a game-changer, but it was more than enough. Atem had knocked Takumi’s car past the specific section of wall required to activate the glitch; If Takumi still wanted to try for the glitch, he’d have to make not one, but two U-turns. The lost time would be too much by that point, and Takumi would no longer be able to get far enough ahead of Atem for a guaranteed victory.

Now, the game was well and truly down to skill, and skill alone. And when it came to skill at games…

Atem grinned to himself as he watched Takumi struggle, too shaken by Atem’s surprise counterattack to steer properly. By the time they reached the finish line, Atem’s lead had grown to far more than just a small margin.

“Ha! Told ya you’d regret that bet!” Jounouchi exclaimed, jumping with excitement as Atem and Takumi climbed out of their chairs. (Atem remained far more composed- Though he couldn’t hide a satisfied smirk.)

Takumi, on the other hand, was wide-eyed and red-faced, clearly none too happy.

“H… How… How could I- You, you- Sh-Shouldn’t you kids be in school right now?!” he spluttered, pointing accusatorily at Atem and Jounouchi.

Jounouchi huffed, and stood up straight, with a haughty look. “I’ll have you know  _ I’m  _ a  _ college  _ student,” he lied, perhaps a bit too dramatically.

Takumi rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right! I know a high schooler when I see one! And how the hell old is this brat, anyway?!”

“Older than you,” Atem retorted flatly, with an indignant snort and crossed arms.

Takumi groaned. “Goddamn it, I can’t believe I lost to a couple of little punks! You shouldn’t have known about that glitch!” he whined, throwing his head back in disbelief.

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, and you shouldn’t have decided to scam children out of their money by engaging in illegal underage gambling and then blatantly cheating by taking advantage of a game bug, but I guess we all do things other people don’t like sometimes,” he replied, shrugging.

“And now you lost! Idiot!” Jounouchi laughed.

Takumi blushed even redder. “Y-Yeah, well- The bet’s off! You knew this was rigged from the beginning, so it doesn’t count!”

“Aww, is someone experiencing  _ consequences _ for their actions?” Jounouchi said in an exaggerated, childish whine, pantomiming tears. “Oh no, poor baby! Boo hoo! Now pay up,” he finished in an irritated tone.

“You’re lucky losing a bet is the only consequence,” Atem added darkly. “I really ought to be giving you a punishment game, but I don’t really-”

“Yeah, yeah, blah blah evil gamer curses, whatever,” Jounouchi interrupted, waving his hand dismissively. “Hurry up fork over the money, dipshit,” he said to Takumi, holding out a hand and gesturing for his reward.

Takumi looked as if he were about to say something, but one look from Atem- One cold glare, his red eyes gleaming eerily in the darkness of the arcade, a hint of a threat lurking just behind them- Was enough to shut him up. He clenched his teeth and shook in anger as he pulled out his wallet, fished out several bills, and slammed them violently into Jounouchi’s open palm, before storming off in a huff.

“Later, loser!” Jounouchi called out after him.

“Fuck off and die!”

Atem shook his head at the pity of it all, watching Takumi stomp out of the arcade as Jounouchi began dividing up their winnings.

“Man… You think that was his real name?” Jounouchi wondered, handing Atem his cut.

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Atem replied dismissively. “We got-” he held up the bills between two fingers with a grin- “Cashmoney.”

Jounouchi returned Atem’s grin with full enthusiasm. “Oh, we got  _ mega _ cashmoney, dude,” he agreed, just barely suppressing a gleeful cackle. “What should we do with it all?”

“Dunno,” Atem replied with a shrug. “I guess we should just hang onto it for now. Maybe we’ll get some ideas if we walk around?”

“Maybe.”

Atem glanced idly at the games as they walked, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed to particularly grab his attention. For a brief moment, he considered Dance Dance Revolution- But soon thought the better of it, as his body was… Maybe not in the best condition for that, he realized with a wince of embarrassment. Better to look for less physical games, like-

“Oh. My.  _ God,”  _ Jounouchi blurted out, stopping dead in his tracks. 

Atem blinked in surprise, nearly crashing into Jounouchi as he suddenly stopped. “What?”

“Look,” Jounouchi gasped. “Look at that claw machine! It has a little Red-Eyes Black Dragon!” he exclaimed, pointing towards the machine in question with wide eyes.

Atem followed Jounouchi’s gaze to a large claw machine, surrounded by several kids, where- Sure enough- A very familiar-looking toy dragon peeked out from atop several other dolls. 

“Oh, it does!” Atem observed, pleasantly surprised. “That’s cute. I wonder where they-”

_ “I have to have it,”  _ Jounouchi declared in a low, serious whisper, and the next thing Atem knew, he was being pulled along by one hand.

“W-Woah, hang on!” Atem gasped, silently cursing Jounouchi’s impulsiveness (And, more importantly, his height) as he struggled to keep from falling over.

Jounouchi, however, paid little mind to his beloved and tragically short-legged best friend, his eyes glued solely to his target. It was a wonder he didn’t run over the kids at the machine, instead stopping just behind them.

“Look! Look at it! Look at its little eyes!”

Atem nodded. “Yeah, it’s a really nice-”

_ “It has glitter horns!”  _ Jounouchi practically shrieked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Atem raised an eyebrow, an amused smile on his face; No doubt most people would have found Jounouchi’s enthusiasm obnoxious at worst, cringe-worthy at best, but to Atem it was nothing but endearing. He loved seeing his friends get excited about things, even if the friends in question were… A bit louder than his poor ears would have liked, admittedly. Still, Jounouchi’s starry-eyed expression was adorable- Strange a descriptor though that may have been, for a tall, gangly teenage delinquent.

“You really want that Red-Eyes, huh?” Atem commented with a gentle laugh, giving Jounouchi a sympathetic smile.

Jounouchi nodded enthusiastically. “Look at its lil’ wings!” he gasped, looking for all the world like he was on the verge of tears.

“Well, we do have plenty of cash to burn,” Atem pointed out, glancing at their gambling winnings. “Wanna go for it?”

“Yeah,” Jounouchi squeaked, nodding almost twice as hard. 

Atem smiled as they stepped into line, waiting for their turn. The Red-Eyes plush remained in its place, staring out at them with shiny plastic eyes.

“Oh, I just realized the machine only takes coins,” Jounouchi said, after a few seconds. “Can you hold our place in line? I’m gonna go get change.”

“Sure,” Atem replied, and with that, Jounouchi hurried off in search of the change machine.

As Atem waited patiently for Jounouchi to return, he found himself watching the claw machine with idle curiosity. The machine was currently surrounded by a group of three young children, out of few school-aged kids Atem had seen at the arcade that day; It soon became clear that they were aiming for a Pikachu plush, lying on its side near the center of the machine. Atem watched as the claw lowered down, closing neatly around Pikachu’s tail- Yet came up empty-handed, barely even moving the doll.

“Aww, man,” one of the kids whined, face falling in disappointment.

“I was so close, too…”

“Do it again,” a third kid suggested. “After all, third time’s the charm, right? You’ve had practice now, so I bet you can get it this time,” she pointed out.

The boy controlling the game nodded. “Right! Here goes.”

Atem silently wished the group good luck as the boy put in a coin, the machine blinking to life once again. The boy pushed the joystick forward, and-

Once again, the tail slipped out from between the claw’s arms, leaving the plush still firmly in place. 

“Awww,” the three kids groaned in chorus.

“Guess I’ll try again…” the boy at the controls sighed.

“Aim for the head, not the tail,” Atem found himself suggesting. “The head is an easier shape to grab.”

The kids looked over their shoulders in surprise, startled by the unexpected comment- But soon seemed to realize the logic of his suggestion, exchanging various murmurs of “Ohhhh…” and “That’s true…”

“Yeah, that makes sense!” the boy at the machine realized, nodding in agreement. “I’ll try that. Thanks, mister.”

Atem smiled, and watched the boy try this new strategy. Sure enough, the claw seemed to grip Pikachu’s head securely, earning a chorus of excited gasps as it started to lift their prize up and out; It was a short-lived victory, however, as the plush fell back down before it had even gotten two centimeters up. Even Atem couldn’t help but let out a hum of disappointment.

“Noooo!”

“You were so close!”

“Pikachu, why?!”

“What’s up?” Jounouchi greeted Atem, startling him as he appeared from behind. Atem jumped slightly, but just as quickly relaxed as he realized it was only Jounouchi. 

“Welcome back,” Atem replied, and then nodded towards the claw machine. “They’re trying to get that Pikachu in the middle.”

“Oh, nice.”

As Atem and Jounouchi spoke, the kids remained just as invested in their pursuit, bickering about how to best retrieve their prize.

“Here, let me try it,” the girl decided. “I’m good at these kinds of games.”

The boy at the machine nodded, and stepped aside to let his friend have a turn.

“See, you gotta look at it from all angles,” she explained, peeking around the sides of the machine as she lined up her shot. “That way, you know you won’t miss.”

“Come on, Pikachu!” the younger of the two boys pleaded, bouncing on his toes.

The claw lowered in place, wrapping perfectly around Pikachu’s head, slowly lifting it up… Yet once again lost its grip before getting all the way to the top. 

“No! I should have had that!” the girl exclaimed, throwing her arms up in frustration.

“Yeah, what the heck?!”

“Let me try! I wanna do it!” the younger boy exclaimed.

The girl sighed, evidently discouraged by her failure, and let him do so.

The three continued taking turns at the game, steadily getting closer and closer. Atem and Jounouchi found themselves surprisingly invested in the quest for Pikachu. The knowledge that most kids might find it weird for strange teenagers to comment on their games was all but forgotten, as they couldn’t help cheering the group on; The kids, too, didn’t seem to mind, pleased with the encouragement.

With each attempt, the kids seemed to get closer and closer to victory; It didn’t take long for them to get the hang of targeting, and the Pikachu plush seemed loose enough that it was only a matter of time until they could successfully “catch” it. Finally, the claw managed to pull it all the way up to the top, and the crowd held their breath as it slid towards the prize chute-

And dropped the doll before it reached the end.

“Noooooooo!”

“What?! That’s bu- I-I mean, that’s dumb! You totally had that!” Jounouchi exclaimed, pointing at the machine as if he could somehow yell it into submission.

“We were  _ so close!” _ the girl groaned.

The boy currently playing reached into his pocket for another coin- But came up empty-handed.

“That was our last 50 yen,” he realized with a gasp.

The other two suddenly went quiet, exchanging wide-eyed glances.

“You mean… We used all our money, and we didn’t even get anything out of it?” the girl said quietly.

Atem could only watch, brow creased with sympathy, as the youngest boy made an admirable attempt to keep his composure; His lip trembled, and within seconds, the tears came.

“But I- I wanted- …Th-This thing’s rigged! I hate this stupid game!” he shouted in frustration. Without warning, turned and ran, nearly knocking into Jounouchi as he hid his face behind his elbow.

“Hey, wait up!” the girl gasped, as she and the other boy quickly hurried after their friend.

Atem and Jounouchi watched them run, their frustrated wails still carrying through the arcade.

They looked at each other, and then back at the machine, neither quite knowing what to say.

“Man… That’s fucked up,” Jounouchi muttered quietly. “I’m not so sure I want to try this thing anymore…”

Atem said nothing at first; He narrowed his eyes at the machine, leaning closer, looking it over as if searching for an explanation.

“...I think they were right about it being rigged,” he realized after a moment, frowning in suspicion.

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. “Really? How can you tell?”

“Did you notice how the crane kept dropping the doll before it got to the prize chute?” Atem said, pointing to the claw at the top of the machine. “It wasn’t just slipping. The grip was fine, and it’s not like a stuffed animal weighs a ton. I think this thing’s programmed to drop stuff on purpose.”

“Ohhh,” Jounouchi gasped, with a slow nod of understanding.

Once again, they fell silent. The machine suddenly seemed much more sinister.

“...Hey, Atem,” Jounouchi began, keeping his voice low. “You wanna do crime?”

Atem grinned. “I thought you’d never ask. But, uh… I don’t think my arm’s going to fit up there, at least not far enough to reach Pikachu,” he admitted, glancing at the machine’s prize door.

“Please. No need to be so primitive,” Jounouchi replied, waving a hand in distaste. “I got a plan, don’t worry.”

“What is it?”

“See that lock on the front panel?” Jounouchi said, nodding subtly towards the lock in question. “We’re gonna open that up, and take the stuff out the same way it went in. Nice ‘n’ clean,” he explained. “You got a paperclip?”

“No. Do you?”

“Nope.”

Atem and Jounouchi exchanged disappointed glances.

“Hmm… How attached to those earrings are you?” Jounouchi asked.

Atem’s hands flew to his earrings defensively. “I- They’re three thousand years old! ...Maybe,” he added, frowning in confusion. (He… Still didn’t really understand where his outfit had come from that first day as a member of the living, and frankly, he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to know.)

“I’m not gonna totally destroy them! I just need the hooks,” Jounouchi clarified. “You can replace those, right?”

“I guess,” Atem sighed.

“Good, then hand ‘em over.”

Sighing once again, Atem reluctantly slipped one earring out, then the other, handing them silently to Jounouchi.

“Geez, these things are heavy! How the hell do your ears not fall off, dude?!” Jounouchi exclaimed as he took the earrings.

Atem shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe Japanese people are genetically predisposed to weak earlobes.”

Jounouchi raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more. 

Atem watched Jounouchi twist the gold wire hooks out of their eyelets, handing the body of the earrings back to Atem; He winced as Jounouchi used his teeth to shape the two pieces of wire to his needs, one bent at a right angle, the other with a bump at the end. 

“This is going to be tough with such tiny picks,” Jounouchi muttered, cringing in anticipation of the task before him. “Anyway, put some money in and pretend you’re playing normally.”

Atem nodded, and slipped his earrings into his pocket, taking out several coins in their place. 

While Atem steered the claw rather aimlessly- Eventually deciding to “try” to grab a stuffed cat- Jounouchi got up close to the side of the machine with the lock. He angled his body carefully (And uncomfortably) to look as if he were simply leaning casually against the machine, blocking the majority of the view with his elbow and back, keeping his face close to his wrist as he twisted it awkwardly to hold the makeshift lockpick. 

Atem “played” two more times, glancing back at Jounouchi every so often.

“Keep trying, bro! You can totally get it this time!” Jounouchi said loudly, feigning interest and gritting his teeth as he fumbled with the tiny lockpicks.

“Uh… Yeah! Right!” Atem played along, forcing a nervous smile.

After a few more seconds, Atem heard a telltale click; His eyes widened, and he instantly looked towards Jounouchi, who met his gaze with an identical expression.

Immediately, the act was dropped- There was no time for caution now. Jounouchi glanced quickly around their surroundings to make sure no one was looking, and in one swift motion, he opened the door just enough to grab the two plushes and pull them out.

“Alright, let’s go find those kids,” he said, tossing the Pikachu to Atem.

Atem nodded, and followed Jounouchi away from the machine, holding the doll close.

* * *

“Seriously? You really forget to _ talk?!” _

“I know, right?! It’s so weird!”

The setting sun cast a warm light on Atem and Jounouchi’s smiling faces as they walked down the sidewalk, the arcade far behind them. They took their time getting home; They were in no hurry, and after a very eventful day of gaming and justice-serving, it was nice to get a break. They walked casually side by side, holding hands and chatting about whatever came to mind.

“Man, how do you forget to talk, though? That’s wild,” Jounouchi commented, staring at Atem in amusement and disbelief.

“I don’t forget to talk, just to talk out loud,” Atem corrected him. “I mean, for a long time I didn’t have to, as long as I was talking to Yuugi. We always used to talk… You know, mentally, I guess.”

“My mom says I’m mentally,” Jounouchi joked.

Atem snorted. “Aw, shut up. Point is, I’m not used to having to physically  _ do _ anything to talk to Yuugi, so sometimes I just… Forget I have to actually move my mouth,” he explained with a laugh. “It’s always so embarrassing when I realize he’s not ignoring me, I’ve just been staring at him creepily for like a whole minute without saying anything.”

Jounouchi shook his head, holding back a laugh. “Man, that’s just bizarre…”

“It usually happens when I’m tired,” Atem admitted. “That’s not the only thing I forget I have to physically do, either. Sometimes if I want to go somewhere I’ll just, like, stand there, and then get confused when I’m not actually moving. It’s really awkward.”

“Holy shit, dude.”

“On the other hand, I’ve also walked into walls and furniture a few times because I forgot I can’t just go through them,” Atem recalled, tilting his head thoughtfully. “In conclusion, uh… I’m a mess.”

“Hey, at least you’ve got an excuse,” Jounouchi replied. “I just walk into walls ‘cause I’m dumb.”

Atem gave a slow nod of understanding. “Solidarity…”

“Solidarity,” Jounouchi agreed.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes after that; Jounouchi swung his hand with Atem’s, humming cheerfully to himself.

“Man, what a day, though,” he commented, shifting his grip on his shiny new Red-Eyes Black Dragon. “Who knew there were so many cheating bastards in the world…”

Atem raised an eyebrow. “Dude, we literally robbed a claw machine. I’m not sure we have any right to talk,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but the claw machine itself was cheating! You saw how badly those poor kids got scammed!” Jounouchi retorted, shaking his head in disdain. “It’s not cheating if you cheat a cheat. We’re the heroes here.”

“Agreed,” Atem said with a nod. “Although, I’m sure if Yuugi were here he wouldn’t be so-”

Atem suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening as they approached the Mutou house.

There, leaning against the wall by the fire escape, was none other than Yuugi. He glanced towards them as they approached, a look on his face as if he’d been waiting for them- And he didn’t seem terribly happy.

“Uh… H-Hey, Yuugi,” Jounouchi greeted him, with a nervous smile and a half-hearted wave.

“Yo,” Atem added.

“Hello, Jounouchi-kun, hello, Other Me,” Yuugi replied tersely. “Would you two care to explain why there are dirty footprints all over the furniture? And why Jounouchi’s clothes are on the floor?”

Jounouchi took a deep breath; He and Atem both knew they couldn’t really lie their way out of this.

“Well, I ditched school so I could hang out with Atem, ‘cause I missed him and I thought he might like some company,” Jounouchi explained. “I went in through the window so I wouldn’t get in trouble with your grandpa, and then we decided to go out, so I took my uniform off so people wouldn’t notice I was playing hooky.”

“So what did you two do all day?”

This question, unfortunately, was not so easy to answer. Atem and Jounouchi exchanged nervous glances.

“...Stuff,” Jounouchi answered awkwardly.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow. “Such as..?”

“Y-You know, uh…”

“We went to the arcade,” Atem answered honestly, trying to cover for Jounouchi.

“Well, that’s fun. What did you do at the arcade?” Yuugi asked.

This time it was Atem’s turn to not have an answer.

“...Stuff,” he replied after a moment.

“Stuff,” Yuugi repeated flatly.

Atem nodded. “Yeah. Stuff.”

Yuugi looked Atem and Jounouchi over, his expression stony-faced while theirs were… Decidedly guilty. After a moment, he let out a sigh, putting a hand on his face and shaking his head in disbelief.

“Honestly, you two… Everyone said ‘Oh, I bet Jounouchi and Atem are committing crimes,’ and I said ‘Oh nooo, they’d never do that, they know better now, I know they wouldn’t cause trouble,’ and here you are,” he grumbled. 

“Hey, we didn’t start nothin’!” Jounouchi argued. “And it’s not like we did anything morally wrong, either!”

“Yeah, we were in the right. We didn’t start anything, and we didn’t hurt anyone,” Atem promised. “It’s not like we set out to commit crimes. People cheated, and we cheated them back. That’s all,” he explained, shrugging.

Yuugi sighed once again. “Yeah, I know, I know… Against my better judgement, I trust you two,” he admitted reluctantly. “Just- Please don’t go getting yourselves into trouble, alright? I know you don’t start stuff- Usually- But I don’t want either of you to get arrested for anything.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Jounouchi muttered, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Sorry, Yuugi.”

Yuugi gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s ok. Oh, uh, one more thing though… You  _ do _ realize that leaving your clothes on someone else’s bedroom floor has certain… _ Implications, _ right?” he added with a frown, lowering his voice and glancing around as if afraid of being overheard.

“Wha- I- I-It’s not like that!” Jounouchi blurted out, blushing bright red and shaking his head rapidly.

Atem blinked in confusion. “What implications?”

Jounouchi leaned over and whispered something into Atem’s ear; Atem took a sharp breath in as he heard, wrinkling his nose in distaste

“Ah.  _ That,” _ he said slowly, through gritted teeth. “I’ll have you know I have no interest in  _ those  _ kinds of things, thank you very much.”

Yuugi smacked a hand against his forehead. “Yeah, duh, obviously _ I _ know that, but my point is that mom doesn’t,” he pointed out. “Or grandpa, for that matter. Imagine if someone were to walk in!”

“Well maybe they shouldn’t go making inappropriate and invasive assumptions about other people’s relationships,” Atem retorted, crossing his arms and turning away in a huff.

Yuugi sighed. “Look. The point is… Please, guys, think about things before you do them,” he muttered.

“We did think about them. That’s why I took my clothes off, so I wouldn’t get caught,” Jounouchi replied calmly.

...Yuugi took a deep breath.

Yuugi resisted the urge to beat his head against the wall behind him.

Yuugi let out his breath.

“Alright… Nevermind. Just promise me if you do this again, you’ll put your clothes away somewhere out of sight, and not put dirty socks on my bed. Ok?”

“Alright, I promise,” Jounouchi gave in.

Yuugi nodded. “Good. Now that that’s settled… Since you’re already here, do you want to stay for dinner?” he asked, his stern expression melting into a warm smile.

* * *

Thursday found itself a rather lazy day. The wait for Yuugi to come home was much the same as it had been, though Atem was in a slightly better mood, thanks in part to the time he’d spent with Jounouchi.

In contrast to the rest of the week, the weather was decidedly rainy. Atem found the atmosphere surprisingly soothing; It was a nice change of pace, a reminder that his environment was not stagnant. The sound of the raindrops hitting the roof was downright hypnotic, and the sky was a rich grey-blue, with brightly lit buildings standing out against it. It was beautiful.

Besides… There was something about rainy days that got into people’s heads, a certain mood that made them want to curl up in their pajamas with a board game or a movie- And the Mutou household was by no means immune to this spell.

_ “Kakyoin! Uh! Ah! It got Kakyoin!” _

“Man, this show is dumb,” Atem commented, listening to the tape squeak and watching the characters crawl across what, to his eyes, was the top of the TV screen.

He lay casually on his back on the bedroom floor, head tilted all the way back to look at the TV behind him; By his side was a half-eaten bowl of potato chips. A short distance away, Yuugi stood by the bed, staring at the TV as he folded a basket of clean laundry.

(Atem had _ tried  _ to help with the laundry, he really had. But it was quickly discovered that- Seeing as he’d never had to do his own laundry before- Atem’s laundry-folding skills were, at best, completely and utterly abysmal. He had thus quickly been banned from “helping”.)

“That’s what makes it fun, though,” Yuugi said in response to Atem’s comment, placing a folded pair of pants down on the bed.

“Yeah, I guess, but man… There’s so many scenes where someone will say, ‘Hoho! I am a stand user and I’m going to kill you!’ and they just stand there going, ‘Aah! He’s a stand user and he is going to kill us!’ instead of, like, running away or something,” Atem pointed out. “Imagine how different the plot would be if anyone on their team had any brain cells.”

“Avdol has brain cells, he just uses them all to have anxiety. Like me!” Yuugi replied cheerfully.

Atem gave an amused snort. “Yeah, that is-”

Atem paused in the middle of his sentence, as a strange feeling suddenly came over him. Yuugi seemed to sense it too, freezing where he stood with a shirt still in his hands, meeting Atem’s gaze with an identical look of wide-eyed surprise; Both boys glanced over at Atem’s deck, sitting where they’d left it on the floor after their last duel.

They’d felt this feeling before.

“...Can you get that?” Yuugi asked Atem.

Atem sighed. “Do I  _ have  _ to?”

“I’ve got my hands full doing laundry.”

“But I don’t want to get up…” Atem muttered.

“So, what, you’re gonna just ignore them? Come on,” Yuugi retorted, giving Atem a look of disdain.

Atem paused for a moment, and then sighed.

“Uuuuuugh…  _ Fine,” _ he groaned, pouting slightly.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow as he watched Atem scoot across the floor, still lying on his back; Atem pulled Yuugi’s duel disk out of his backpack with clumsy motions, and then reached for his deck, fumbling around without really looking until he found the right card. Finally, he slapped the Dark Magician card lazily into one of the duel disk’s monster zones, switched it on, and let his arm fall back down with a sigh.

Immediately, the duel disk flickered to life, a familiar figure materializing in the middle of the room.

“Hello, Pharaoh,” Mahaad greeted them, bowing politely to Yuugi- And then frowned slightly, glancing around in search of Atem.

“Yo,” Atem called out from the floor, giving Mahaad a lazy wave hello.

Mahaad blinked, glancing down in surprise. “Ah- What are you doing on the floor?” he wondered, as a worried look crossed his face. “Is something wrong? Are you alright?”

“I don’t wanna get up,” Atem explained simply.

“He’s fine, he’s just being lazy,” Yuugi sighed.

Mahaad glanced from Atem, lying on the floor, to Yuugi, holding half-folded laundry and staring at Atem in dismay.

“...Um… Is this a bad time..?” Mahaad asked awkwardly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude-”

“No, you’re fine,” Yuugi promised, smiling reassuringly and putting the shirt down, reaching over to pause the VCR. “What’s up?”

Mahaad still seemed a bit hesitant, but nodded after a moment. “I came to let you two know I’ve finished my research into your… Condition,” he announced.

This seemed to finally get Atem’s attention, as he pushed himself up to lean on his elbows, giving Mahaad a curious look. “So… What did you find out?” he aked quietly, exchanging nervous glances with Yuugi.

Mahaad paused before answering, sitting down in the desk chair as he prepared to explain his findings. Yuugi and Atem watched him with full attention, nervous looks on their faces as they waited to hear the news, preparing for the worst.

“To start off, I’m sorry it took me so long. This whole thing is fairly uncharted territory,” Mahaad admitted. “I did eventually find what I needed to know in the research notes of an early 20th century alchemist, but…” He sighed, shaking his head in dismay.

“But what?” Yuugi asked.

“...Well… Alchemists generally encode their research, you see,” Mahaad began. “Partly to protect themselves from religious persecution, and partly to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Normally it’s not too hard to understand if you’re familiar with common alchemic symbolism, but this one…” He sighed once again, grimacing at the memory. “Despite being English, not only did the author write his notes entirely in traditional Mandarin Chinese, he also encoded them as a guide book on the care and keeping of housecats. It was, quite frankly, a nightmare to decode.”

“But you…  _ Did  _ manage to decode it, right?” Atem hoped.

“Eventually, yes.”

“And..?”

Mahaad paused once again, thinking carefully about his words, as he always did.

“There’s… Many different schools of thought about what makes up a person,” he began his explanation. “I’m sure you’re familiar with the traditional conceptualization- Name, body, heart, ba, ka, and so forth.”

“Right,” Yuugi confirmed.

“In all honesty, I’m not sure how accurate that model is- If it’s even accurate at all. I don’t know about other theories on the subject, either. The human soul has been a subject of philosophical debate since the birth of humanity. But it doesn’t really make a difference,” Mahaad continued. “What we do know is that, regardless of how you decide to label their parts, humans are meant to be one singular unit. They’re not supposed to be split up, and normally can’t be, except through the use of certain types of powerful magic- Like you did.”

“So what happens if you _ do  _ split them up?” Atem asked, already dreading the answer.

Mahaad gave just the slightest hint of a smile, somewhere between reassurance and pride. “That’s what I was trying to find out,” he answered. “And that’s what brought me to the cat journal. Very little research has been done on the effects of separating humans into multiple parts- Spiritually I mean, obviously everyone knows what happens if you cut someone’s arm off- But this particular alchemist focused most of his work on the topic. Quite fascinating work, really.”

Atem and Yuugi continued to watch Mahaad expectantly, waiting for him to continue. Mahaad blushed slightly as he realized he’d gotten a bit off topic.

“...Um. Anyway- What he found is that pieces of a person are naturally drawn together, like magnets. That magnetic pull is important, because it maintains some connection. Separated pieces of living creatures are naturally unstable, but the level of instability varies depending on certain conditions, mainly proximity to their counterparts.”

“So what does that mean, exactly?” Atem wondered.

“It means…” Mahaad frowned, tilting his head thoughtfully. “Think of it like… The battery on a duel disk,” he suggested. “As you know, duel disks are solar powered. As long as a duel disk is in direct sunlight, it’ll function just fine. Without sunlight, it can function on battery power for a while- But it will eventually need to recharge. And of course, the longer it runs on battery power, the longer it’s going to need to recharge before it reaches full battery.”

Yuugi nodded. “Right. So how does that relate to us?” he asked.

“Essentially, in a metaphorical sense, you two are each other’s solar battery,” Mahaad explained. “Different parts of a person cannot survive in total isolation from each other- But that magnetic pull I mentioned does have a stabilizing effect, so long as you’re within a certain range.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Atem agreed.

“Wait. You said ‘cannot survive’,” Yuugi realized quietly, eyes going wide. “Does that mean-”

“In isolation,” Mahaad corrected him, with a reassuring smile. “I don’t believe either of you are in any danger of dying. Comparatively more mild symptoms, however, are something you need to be careful of,” he added, frowning once again. “Things like anxiety, depression, dissociation, physical sickness…”

“Yeah, we’ve already had that,” Yuugi sighed. “Sounds like a lot of this is… Kind of stuff we already knew. But it’s good to at least have an explanation.”

Atem nodded in agreement. “So then… What should we do?”

“Unfortunately, there’s really no way to avoid it, at least not that I’ve found. I’m sorry,” Mahaad said, bowing his head in apology.

“It’s ok.”

“The best you can do is try to minimize risk. I would recommend avoiding prolonged separation, or large physical distances.”

Atem frowned, brow furrowing in confusion. “Wait, but how far is too far? And how long is too long?”

“That, I don’t know either,” Mahaad admitted with an apologetic frown. “I think it’s probably up to you two to judge that. I’m sure by now you’re already starting to get a sense of your boundaries.”

Atem and Yuugi exchanged worried glances.

“Is there… Anything we can do to make it easier?” Yuugi asked quietly.

“Like I said, think of it like recharging a battery,” Mahaad replied. “In other words, if I may be so bold…” he pointed to Atem and Yuugi in turn, a stern look on his face. “I’m assigning both of you mandatory cuddle time. Doctor’s orders.”

For a moment, there was silence. Then Yuugi let out a sigh; The tension in the room seemed to dissipate a little, as Atem and Mahaad relaxed slightly as well.

“So, to reiterate… Don’t spend too much time apart, lots of physical contact, we’re probably not going to die?” Atem repeated, looking to Mahaad for confirmation.

Mahaad nodded. “That about sums it up, yes.”

“Well I’m glad we’re not gonna die,” Yuugi said cheerfully. “I mean, the whole thing’s still kinda super messed up, but I’m glad we’re not going to randomly drop dead.”

“Yeah, being dead is overrated,” Atem joked. 

Mahaad gave them an odd look. “I’m… Impressed with how well you’re taking this,” he said carefully, hesitantly, as if trying to be as polite as possible.

Yuugi shrugged. “I guess I just don’t really have time to take things badly. Freaking out won’t change anything. Better to accept things for what they are and learn to live with them as soon as possible,” he explained, glancing at Atem.

(Atem, on the other hand, thought that he personally wasn’t taking things “well” so much as taking them “slowly and badly”, but decided it would be best not to say so out loud. What Mahaad didn’t know wouldn’t give him stress headaches, Atem thought.)

“That’s a very admirable attitude to have,” Mahaad said with a smile. “I’m sure you two will be just fine. I know I’ve seen you overcome worse.”

Yuugi smiled in return. “Thank you for all your help. We really appreciate it.”

“Sorry about the weird cat alchemy,” Atem added, sitting up with a yawn.

Mahaad laughed, though his expression was closer to regret. “Well… I suppose a little challenge every now and then is good for the mind. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself,” he muttered, grimacing slightly. “In any case… I’m glad I could be of help. I’ll leave you to your laundry now,” he decided, and stood up from his chair.

“Oh, ok, bye! It was good seeing you,” Yuugi replied, waving goodbye.

“Bye, Mahaad. Thank you for everything,” Atem said with a smile.

Mahaad smiled back, and bowed politely. “Goodnight, Pharaoh. Take care.”

“You too,” Atem and Yuugi replied in unison, and with that, Mahaad vanished.

Atem yawned, reaching over to switch off the duel disk. He took the Dark Magician card out, and stared at it for a moment before carefully replacing it with the rest of the deck.

“...I guess, if nothing else, it’s nice to have some validation,” Yuugi said quietly after a moment, reaching for another piece of laundry. “Good to know there’s an actual reason why we feel so terrible lately, other than just, I don’t know, being too emotionally attached to each other or something.”

Atem nodded. “Mm. But on the other hand… I guess this means it’s not going to get much better, huh,” he realized, lowering his gaze solemnly.

Yuugi bit his lip. The room was quiet, save for the steady hum of the rain.

“...Well, then… We’ll- We’ll make it better,” Yuugi decided, taking a deep breath, though he still sounded uncertain. “I mean, it’s only going to be like this until the end of the semester, right? We’ll just have to figure out how to make things easier until then. We’ll work with what we have.”

“I guess, but what can we do?” Atem sighed, and flopped down on the floor again, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “Mom said you can’t skip any more school, and-”

“I have an idea,” Yuugi interrupted.

Atem glanced up, though he didn’t seem terribly optimistic. “Alright, what is it?”

“Why don’t you walk to school with me in the mornings?” Yuugi suggested. “Even if you’re not a student, it should be fine to just walk to the gate. What are they gonna do, kick you off the sidewalk?” he pointed out. “And it’s not like you don’t know how to get home.”

Atem blinked in surprise; Yuugi’s suggestion was… Surprisingly sensible, he realized. “I… I guess that’s true, yeah,” he admitted, tilting his head thoughtfully.

Yuugi nodded. “It’s not much, but at least a few extra minutes ought to count for something, right? Besides, it’d probably do you some good to get out of the house sometimes. And you could see our friends, too.”

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Atem realized. “Do you think mom will be ok with it?”

“Why wouldn’t she be?”

Atem shrugged, not really sure he had an answer to that either.

“It’s setted, then,” Yuugi decided with a nod. “Starting tomorrow, we’ll walk to school together. Maybe we could even walk home together, too.”

“Right,” Atem agreed, smiling slightly. “I look forward to it.”

Yuugi beamed, and put down the shirt he’d been folding. “Wanna finish the episode, then?”

“Sure.”

Yuugi unpaused the VCR, and sighed, happy to go back to some mindless TV after such a heavy conversation. It was… Unsettling to think about everything they’d learned, despite his attempts at optimism; Still, he was glad to have answers, even if most of them were things he’d already suspected. The more they knew about their problems, the better prepared they were to find ways to deal with them. (And, of course, it was indeed a relief to know that neither of them were particularly in danger of dying- It wasn’t like he’d really thought that they were, but the concept hadn’t been completely out of the range of possibility in his mind.)

Yuugi turned his attention towards the TV, and hoped the coming week would be better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, the Sega Rally Championship mountain turn noclip glitch doesn't actually exist. I made it up for the plot, lmao.


	10. The Cattening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everybody's doing alright during the quarantine. I've already had one mental breakdown but uh, I'm good now I think?  
> Also, I realized there's something I didn't quite convey properly in the last chapter: The joke at the end wasn't that Atem doesn't get the "Implications" because he's a Sweet Naive Innocent Ace Baby Who Doesn't Know What Sex Is Uwu™, the joke was that he doesn't get the Implications because nudity wasn't taboo nor seen as inherently sexual in ancient Egypt, so he doesn't make the connection that lack of clothes = sex.  
> I think I kind of failed to make that clear, so rip me I guess. Atem knows what sex is, he just doesn't know what the hell clothes would have to do with it.
> 
> Anyway, this is a chapter I've been planning for... Gosh, I think since like, October or something? It's been a while. I'm really excited to finally post it, so I hope everyone enjoys it!

The weekend was a breath of fresh air for Atem, both figuratively and literally. His friends had been just as eager to spend time together as he was, and they’d spent hours together, at the park or the arcade or Yuugi’s house. Everything felt so much easier for Atem when he was around them; His friends _understood_ him. Their support was as genuine as could be- No confusion, no awkward forced smiles, no walking on eggshells. Even when they didn’t understand certain aspects of his experience, they took it in stride rather than awkwardly nodding along, and Atem was grateful for that.

Besides, it was hard to think too much about bad things when his mind was occupied with arguing the finer points of Pokémon.

But of course, the weekend couldn’t last forever, much as Atem wanted it to. Sunday did eventually come to an end, and with it came the dawn of Monday morning- The much-dreaded beginning of the school week.

Atem’s third week as a living person felt, on an emotional level, in many ways the same as the second- But there was no denying that things had changed. If nothing else, there were fewer uncertainties; Yuugi’s parents had finally gotten the reality of the situation through their heads, and Atem and Yuugi better understood their own condition as well, thanks to Mahaad’s hard work. Yuugi’s parents had started making efforts to ensure Atem felt comfortable, and walking to school with Yuugi in the mornings and meeting him at the gate in the afternoon genuinely did- Astoundingly enough- Actually help make the school day a little easier for both of them.

(There had been whispers among the students of Domino High about the strange, mysterious foreign boy who followed Yuugi Mutou to school, and occasionally waited silently at the gate in the afternoons, watching the door with an eerie stare until Yuugi came out; Nobody had been brave enough to ask Yuugi about it directly, but he’d heard rumors about when people thought he wasn’t around. The fact that Atem didn’t actually attend Domino High broke the status quo to the point of confusing Yuugi’s classmates, and although they all knew, logically, that there had to be a relatively mundane explanation, evidently they found his presence more than a little bit creepy. Whether or not Atem was aware of this, Yuugi wasn’t sure- But for better or for worse, Yuugi himself was always too happy to see Atem to care what anyone else thought.)

Life at home without Yuugi was… Still a struggle for Atem in many ways. He did genuinely try to listen to the advice others gave him- He tried to be nicer to himself, and he tried to gradually spend more time around Yuugi’s parents- But it was far easier said than done. Yuugi’s parents in particular were a challenge to deal with; Sometimes Atem felt like he didn’t mind being around them, and sometimes one look was enough to make him want to run and hide.

It was… Strange, interacting with Yuugi’s parents after the “talk” they’d had with Yuugi’s mother. Yuugi’s parents seemed to have warmed up to Atem fairly quickly, and it should have come as a relief to Atem, and yet… And yet, he couldn’t help but feel conflicted, even a little bit scared. They treated him nicely, yes- But what was the limit of that kindness? Did they think of him as a son, or just some kid they were looking after for a while? How much asking for help was too much? How weird was too weird? Where was the line? He didn’t know, and that scared him.

In some ways, it was almost harder to deal with Yuugi’s parents now that they were seemingly trying to accept him than it had been when they’d still been confused and awkward about his existence. Every now and then, one of them would say something nice to him, and his eyes would light up with excitement and hope, overjoyed at the thought of parental approval- And then he’d have to remind himself that they _weren’t_ his parents, and the kindness they were showing him was nothing they wouldn’t have done for anyone else. And then it would all come crashing back down again.

Atem wanted so desperately to feel loved, but when it came to Yuugi’s parents, he just felt… Tolerated. And he knew it was his own fault.

It was his fault, of course, because he wouldn’t allow himself the _chance_ to feel loved. Every time Yuugi’s parents reached out, Atem would shy away.

It wasn’t that he thought it was all fake, necessarily; He believed Yuugi when he said that his parents liked him, and he knew they were genuinely trying. But he knew he wasn’t family- Not really, not yet, he couldn’t be- And he was so scared that if he fully accepted their kindness, it would be all too easy for him to get too comfortable and start overstepping his boundaries. That was something he couldn’t risk, especially now that he knew the full extent of his and Yuugi’s dependency on each other; Living apart wouldn’t be good for either of them. He couldn’t put Yuugi’s health at risk just because he was maybe a little bit starved for parental affection. 

And so, he kept his distance from Yuugi’s parents- Not because he was stubborn or shy, but out of necessity. To protect himself, and Yuugi. Better to isolate himself than to risk accidentally crossing the wrong lines.

At least he had Grandpa, he thought. Grandpa had known him for a long time; Grandpa loved him. Grandpa didn’t mind that Atem considered him family.

But one way or another, parents or no parents, life went on. Atem maintained his same basic habits, spending most of his time in his room, or occasionally the living room or (on an embarrassingly irregular basis) the kitchen; Monday turned to Tuesday, and Tuesday turned to Wednesday, and Wednesday turned to Thursday. And at some point late Thursday morning, Atem got hungry.

He leaned against the kitchen counter, quietly eating a cookie- Not the healthiest snack, admittedly more of a desert than anything, but he was mostly just proud of himself for actually eating _something_ instead of ignoring his hunger. (For as much as Yuugi and Grandpa had expressed concern over the nutritional value of Atem’s diet, it had quickly become clear that the more pressing issue was getting him to eat anything at all; When Atem had mentioned feeling guilty for mostly eating junk food, Yuugi had told him that “any food is better than no food”, and made him promise that if he felt like eating something, he would. Atem was doing his best to stick to that promise.)

Atem yawned, and stretched out lazily, brushing the last of the cookie crumbs from his hands. Snack time was over; Now it was time to head back up to his room. 

He stepped carefully as he made his way back towards the stairs; Both Yuugi’s parents were in the living room, as it was another work-from-home day, and Atem wasn’t really feeling up to having an encounter with them. At least it wouldn’t be too difficult to avoid them, so long as he-

“Hi, Atem,” Mrs. Mutou greeted him cheerfully from the living room.

Atem jumped, eyes going wide. He quickly hurried up the stairs.

Mrs. Mutou watched him run, biting her lip, brow creased with worry as she heard him close his bedroom door. “That boy…” she sighed, shaking her head. “I just don’t know what to do with him. He’s so… Skittish. I just don’t know what to do for him.”

“Mm.” Mr. Mutou nodded, flipping to the next page of the document in his hands. “You know, he kind of reminds me of a cat I had once.”

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow curiously. “What do you mean?”

“When I was a kid, my family took in a stray kitten,” he began. “We found her living out in a back alley all by herself, and my mom got all worried when it started getting cold, so we took her in. At first, she was really shy,” he recalled, frowning slightly at the memory. “She was so scared of people, she spent almost all of her time hiding under the couch, poor thing. She pretty much only ever came out to eat. But after a few weeks, she opened up, and after that she was a total sweetheart!”

“Well, that does sound like Atem,” Mrs. Mutou admitted, with a slight quiet laugh. “Here’s hoping it won’t take weeks for him to come out of his room…”

“Mm-hmm.”

The room fell silent once again as both its occupants returned to their tasks- Mr. Mutou to his current editing job, and Mrs. Mutou to her latest library find.

“...You know, maybe that’s what he needs,” Mr. Mutou said thoughtfully after a few minutes of silence. “Maybe a cat would cheer him up. He seems like a cat person, don’t you think?”

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “Honey, I really don’t think a lack of cats is the root of his depression,” she replied sarcastically.

Mr. Mutou shrugged, and returned his attention to his work. 

He scanned the page wordlessly, checking for grammatical errors, making small notes here and there, correcting kanji mistakes and clarifying formatting. Yet the more he worked, the more his thoughts started drifting; He chewed idly on the back of his pen, as his mind kept returning to the previous conversation.

Maybe Atem really _did_ need a cat. He was just so… Cat-like. Surely having a cat to keep him company would help lift his spirits a bit, right? After all, Atem didn’t like to be around people, but it wasn’t healthy for anyone to stay all alone in their room all the time; He needed a companion. If he wouldn’t accept humans, maybe a pet would do? And besides, few things in the world were more therapeutic than petting cats. Nobody could be sad all the time if they had a cat to be friends with.

Mr. Mutou nodded to himself, and stood up from the couch, his mind made up.

* * *

Atem yawned as he turned on the Mega Drive, waiting for the battered old TV to warm up. He tried not to let his thoughts dwell too much on the encounter with Yuugi’s parents moments earlier; After all, it wasn’t like similar incidents hadn’t happened plenty of times before. It was embarrassing, maybe, but in the end it wasn’t like it was a huge deal. A little Sonic would take his mind off of things.

He sat down in the desk chair, crossing one leg over the other and letting his hands fall into place on the controller. He hummed idly along with the title music as he pressed start, waiting for the-

A knock came at the door. 

Atem frowned, momentarily confused by the interruption; Nevertheless, he put the controller down, and stood up to answer the door.

“Hey,” Mr. Mutou greeted Atem, with a cheerful wave. “Ready to go?”

Atem blinked. “Go… Where..?” he wondered, frowning in confusion.

Mr. Mutou gave a wide grin. “Oh, you’ll see.”

Atem paused, frowning as he tried to figure out just what Yuugi’s father was talking about. And then, it hit him. 

It was finally happening. He was being kicked out. 

Atem took a deep breath, and bit his lip. He wouldn’t cry, he decided; He wouldn’t give Yuugi’s father the satisfaction.

“Give me- Give me five minutes,” he said quietly. “Please.”

Mr. Mutou nodded, still smiling. “Sure. I’ll meet you at the car, ‘kay?”

“Fine.”

Atem closed the door, and waited until he heard Mr. Mutou go downstairs. Once he was sure he was alone, he took a deep breath, letting it out with a long sigh.

He felt surprisingly… Calm. No, not calm, really; More like… Contained. Maybe it was just the fact that he had, on some level, been expecting this for some time, but somehow something prevented him from simply shutting down the way he tended to do when he was upset lately. He knew what he needed to do.

Atem pulled the closet open and dug through its contents, searching through Yuugi’s things until he found an old drawstring backpack. (He felt a tinge of guilt for borrowing it without permission, and for making such a mess; He hoped Yuugi would understand.)

With shaking hands, he began packing his things, working quickly as he piled all of his personal belongings into the bag: His old clothes, his new clothes (Even the dirty ones), the forged documents declaring him to be Yuugi’s twin (Not that it mattered much anymore, if his parents had disowned him), the 5,000 yen he’d won at the arcade. He wrapped his jewelry in an old T-shirt to keep it safe, and placed his deck in his pocket.

“Sorry to shove you in a bag like this, Kuriboh,” he muttered, picking up the plush and staring at it for a moment. “It’s- It’s just until we get to Bakura’s place. ...Although, he’s probably at school now, so… I guess we might- Have to wait outside for a while,” he realized, speaking more to himself than Kuriboh now. “But… It’ll be fine.”

He took a deep breath, wiped his eye, and closed the bag with Kuriboh inside. He slung the bag over his shoulders, turned off the TV and the Mega Drive, and set out.

He closed the door behind him, and watched Yuugi’s room- The room he’d spent so much time in, his only safe space, the place he’d come to call home- Disappear out of his sight for the last time. 

Atem didn’t even look at the living room as he hurried downstairs, heading straight for the door. He slipped on his old, itchy papyrus sandals, and pushed through the curtain into the game shop.

“Goodbye, Grandpa,” he muttered, glancing back at the only person he still felt comfortable calling his family.

“Hmm? Where are you going?” Grandpa wondered, raising an eyebrow with slight amusement.

“I-” Atem swallowed the lump in his throat. “I-I don’t know. Bakura’s place, I guess.”

Grandpa frowned worriedly, suddenly taking note of Atem’s appearance. “...Is everything alright, dear?”

Atem took a deep breath, and nodded. No time to panic now; He was sure his five minutes were almost up. 

“I’ll be fine,” he promised. “Bye, Grandpa. I love you.”

“Oh, uh… Love you too,” Grandpa replied, frowning in confusion and concern as he watched Atem leave. 

* * *

Mr. Mutou leaned against the car, practically giddy with excitement as he waited for Atem. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Atem’s face when he found out what his “surprise” was! The poor boy had been so stressed; Mr. Mutou was sure getting to adopt a cat was going to make his week, if not his entire year.

After a few minutes, Mr. Mutou finally spotted Atem. He couldn’t help smiling knowingly to himself at the sight of Atem’s tense posture and tight-lipped frown; Little did Atem know, soon enough he’d forget he was ever upset at all! Mr. Mutou did cast a confused glance at the small drawstring backpack Atem carried over one shoulder, but said nothing about it. Whatever Atem needed to feel comfortable was fine with him.

Mr. Mutou climbed into the driver’s seat, grinning as Atem sat down next to him.

“All buckled up?” Mr. Mutou asked as he started the car.

Atem gave a grunt of confirmation, and said nothing more, turning away from Mr. Mutou with arms crossed.

Atem held his bag tightly against his chest, staring out the window with a forlorn expression. He watched his surroundings carefully as they drove, taking note of familiar streets, trying to map out where they were going, trying to figure out how to get to Bakura’s apartment; At least he knew the address, so he could always ask for directions, but he’d prefer to avoid the trouble. He could only pray they weren’t going too far- Although, he noticed with a sinking dread, they didn’t seem to be headed in the same direction as the route to Bakura’s place.

The longer they drove, the longer Atem had to stew in his feelings, and the longer he stewed in his feelings, the more he started to feel… _Angry._ Scared, sad, hurt, yes, he was all those things, but the more he thought about his situation, the more those feelings gave way to rage at how wrong it all was.

Why was he being kicked out _now,_ without any sort of warning? Neither of Yuugi’s parents had indicated any desire to get rid of him since the talk with Yuugi’s mother. If they had a problem with him, why didn’t they at least _tell_ him before kicking him out? And why did they have to drive him off to god-knows-where, couldn’t they have at least let him decide where he was going to go? Or was this their plan to make sure he didn’t come back- To dump him far away, where he wouldn’t be able to find his way back, so he couldn’t sneak back in through the window?

And how could Mr. Mutou sit there, just… _Smiling_ like that as he drove? He looked downright _excited_ to have Atem gone. Why? What had Atem possibly done that was so horrible? The whole thing was uncharacteristically cruel, and that made him angry. Even if he had somehow done something terrible, there was no reason for this… This... Manipulation. There was no reason for them to toy with them the way they had, to take so much joy in abandoning him; He knew they never would have treated someone else this way, so why? Why him?

That was just it, wasn’t it? They never would have treated another person that way, no- But Atem _wasn’t_ a person, at least not in their minds. They must not have even seen him as human. His feelings didn’t matter, because only living things had feelings, and clearly they thought of Atem as some sort of… Object. He was nothing to them, and that made him even more furious; Maybe he wasn’t human, maybe he wasn’t even a person at all, but he still had feelings! Couldn’t they see that?! Everyone deserved to have their feelings respected, person or not.

Atem clutched his bag tighter, digging his fingers into the fabric as he watched his surroundings gradually become less and less familiar.

It wasn’t even like his feelings were the only ones at play here, either. They _knew_ how much he meant to Yuugi. Was that why all of this was happening while Yuugi was at school? So Yuugi wouldn’t have a chance to argue? That… That was just crossing a line.

“...I don’t like that you decided to do this while Yuugi’s not here,” he said through gritted teeth, the first words he’d spoken since getting in the car. (It had been nearly 20 minutes now, he noted.)

“Well, Yuugi’s still at school, you know,” Mr. Mutou replied, as cheerful as ever.

“I know. And it’s not fair to him,” Atem insisted, his voice terse and shaky. “Don’t you at least care about his feelings?!”

“Oh, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Of course he’ll mind!” Atem snapped. “I mean, god, you could have at least given us a chance to say goodbye!”

Mr. Mutou frowned slightly. “‘A chance to say goodbye’..? What are you talking about? We’ll probably be home before he is,” he pointed out confusedly.

Atem paused, blinking in surprise. “I- …‘We’?” he repeated questioningly.

“Well, yeah?” Mr. Mutou laughed slightly. “What, did you think I was going to go home without you?”

...Whatever Mr. Mutou had been expecting, it had not been for Atem to suddenly burst into tears.

“...Yes?” Atem squeaked, his voice cracking. 

His anger and stubbornness from before had suddenly vanished; Compared to a moment ago, he now seemed so very… Small, so… Vulnerable. Like a lost child. Mr. Mutou’s smile vanished as he slowly put the pieces together.

“Wait, you don’t mean- You don’t- Did you think I was _getting rid of you?”_ he gasped, eyes widening with horror. “Oh my god! Is _that_ what the backpack was for?!” he blurted out in sudden realization.

 _“Yes!”_ Atem shouted in response. “I got a bag and I put all my stuff in it ‘cause I- ‘Cause I knew you were kicking me out because- Wh-Why _else_ would you tell me to get in the car and, and not tell me where you’re taking me?!” he exclaimed, burying his face in his hands

Mr. Mutou opened his mouth to respond, but paused; This discussion, he realized, was too much to have while driving. He could only grit his teeth and watch Atem out of the corner of his eye, as he turned into a nearby parking lot.

He pulled into the first open parking space he found, turning the car off. Everything suddenly felt so much more quiet without the hum of the car’s engine, so much more… Empty. Atem’s sobs remained muffled by his hands. 

“Hey, that’s not it at all,” Mr. Mutou told him. “What makes you think we would kick you out?”

 _“Because!_ Because- I-I’m not your son, and- And you didn’t ask for this, a-and I’m- I’m _weird,_ and I don’t belong here, and I lied to you for so long and I- and- and- I-I don’t know,” Atem stammered, curling up in his seat. “A-and you didn’t- You didn’t tell me where we were going, so I…” he trailed off, sniffling and wiping at his eyes.

Mr. Mutou bit his lip; It broke his heart to hear the poor boy’s confession. How had they failed so badly as parents, and so quickly?

“None of that is true at all,” Mr. Mutou assured Atem, shaking his head. “What do you mean about lying?”

Atem sniffled once again. “I… I let you think I was Yuugi for so long, because I didn’t- I-I didn’t know who else I was supposed to be, and if we told you you wouldn’t have believed us and you- Y-You would’ve sent Yuugi to a mental hospital and it would’ve been all my fault,” he whimpered. “And I, I let myself pretend you were my parents, ‘cause- Because I never had parents before, a-and I wanted to, and- And I _knew_ it was wrong but I did it anyway! I did it anyway!” he wailed, his sobs suddenly increasing in intensity as he grew more and more hysterical. “I just- I just- I-”

“You did what you had to do, and I understand that. I don’t think you did anything wrong,” Mr. Mutou interrupted. “It’s alright. You’re part of the family now. You don’t have to pretend.”

“You’re lying!” Atem snapped. “I know you’re lying! I know you don’t think of me that way!”

“I’m not-”

 _“No!_ I _know_ you don’t love me! Stop- _Stop lying to me!”_ Atem screamed.

Mr. Mutou flinched, startled by this outburst. He sat in stunned silence, listening to Atem’s rapid gasping sobs continue. 

For a while, he said nothing; He waited for Atem to calm down slightly, knowing he’d have no chance of Atem even listening to him at all in his current state.

“...Can I be honest with you for a minute?” he asked hesitantly after a while.

“Fine,” Atem whimpered.

Mr. Mutou nodded, and then paused, taking a moment to think about his words.

“In all honesty… At first, this whole thing was confusing and strange to me. I didn’t really know how I was supposed to react. I didn’t understand it,” he admitted. “But after a while… I don’t know. It’s like something clicked. Like this is how things were always meant to be. And- And maybe I don’t know you all that well yet, I’ll admit that, but… Somehow, I really do feel like you’ve always been part of the family,” he said quietly. “You _are_ my son. I know you are, just as much as Yuugi is. You just… Took a little longer to get here, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Atem went quiet for a few seconds.

“...Do you really mean that?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I do.”

“I- I just- T-Took longer getting here?” Atem repeated, as if he wasn’t sure if he’d heard right, or if he’d been imagining things.

Mr. Mutou nodded. “Mhmm. And I’m so glad you’re here with us now.”

Atem took a deep, shaking breath. 

“I- I’m _real?”_ he questioned, his voice cracking.

“Oh, Atem, of _course_ you’re real!” Mr. Mutou replied without hesitation, eyes widening with sympathy. “You’re just as real as anybody else.”

 _“...Oh,”_ Atem whispered, just barely loud enough to hear.

Mr. Mutou bit his lip, and held out his arms towards Atem. “Come here.”

Atem didn’t shy away this time, falling exhausted into his father’s arms as a second round of tears came. Mr. Mutou rubbed Atem’s arm gently, holding him as close as he could across the car, muttering reassurances even as the car’s center console jammed uncomfortably into his side.

After several minutes, Atem began to calm down- At least, compared to his previous state of hysteria.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” Mr. Mutou told Atem apologetically. “I promise I’m not trying to get rid of you. I just wanted to surprise you with something nice. If I’d known it was going to be so… Distressing for you, I would have just told you outright,” he added. “I’m really sorry.”

Atem gave a choked sniffle. “I-I just want to know where we’re going,” he whimpered quietly, wiping at his eyes.

“Hmm… Well, I guess you’ll find out soon enough anyway, so I guess I might as well tell you,” Mr. Mutou gave in. “We’re going to get a cat.”

Atem went quiet for a moment.

“...A… Cat..?” Atem repeated, frowning in confusion as he slowly, hesitantly pulled away, sitting up straight again.

Mr. Mutou nodded. “Yeah! I thought you might like a cat. You seem like you could use some company while Yuugi’s at school, and, well, you know what they say about cats!”

“What do they say about cats?” Atem muttered confusedly.

Mr. Mutou paused.

“...Um… That- That cats are really good and nice to have,” he said, nodding slowly as he realized he didn’t actually know what he was talking about. “So, uh… So I thought you might like to have a cat. And I… Thought it would be fun to surprise you. But I guess I messed up there,” he said with an apologetic frown. “But anyway, um- If you’d rather just go home, that’s fine too-”

“I-I like cats,” Atem blurted out, with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than he meant to (Even if that still wasn’t much, given his mood).

Mr. Mutou gave a bright smile. “Oh, good! Then that’s all settled. Glad we didn’t come all this way for nothing,” he laughed.

Atem said nothing, glancing out the window with a small, nervous nod.

Mr. Mutou remained quiet for a moment, watching Atem with a thoughtful expression, silently debating what to do next.

“...First, I’m going to stop at the store, if that’s alright,” he said carefully after a minute or two. “You can come in with me if you like, or you can stay here. Whichever one you’d prefer,” he added with a reassuring smile.

Atem nodded, sniffling once again. “O-Ok. I’ll, um… I-I’ll stay here.”

“Alright. I’ll be right back, ok? I promise I’m not leaving you, so don’t worry,” Mr. Mutou assured Atem, quietly popping open the car door. “See you in a few minutes.”

Atem gave one last small nod, and watched Mr. Mutou walk away, until he disappeared behind the corner of a building.

* * *

Atem took a deep breath, sighing and rubbing at his eyes. He frowned slightly at the smoky black smudge of eyeliner left behind on his hand, and wiped it off on his shorts. 

Yuugi’s father had been gone for some time now, and honestly, Atem was glad to have some space; He needed time to himself to get it together, after his… Outburst. He’d mostly calmed down by now, though his eyes and throat still stung, and his nose was uncomfortably drippy.

Of course, even after calming down, Atem’s emotions weren’t quite in the clear just yet. As his initial distress and panic-induced irrationality had gradually subsided, he was left with plenty of time to… Reflect on some things.

The sheer amount of sincerity with which Mr. Mutou had tried to comfort and reassure Atem came as a shock to him. In hindsight, he had to wonder- How long _had_ his kindness been genuine? Had Yuugi’s parents, or at least his father, sincerely cared about Atem all this time, while he’d been too stubborn and paranoid to notice? He’d known for some time that he was, at least on some level, purposefully denying any possibility that they might really care about him, for fear of what might happen if he assumed wrong- But he _had_ still genuinely believed to some extent that the chances of them being sincere were low. Had he assumed wrong? Was _he_ the one who was being cold and distant, after all?

Was their acceptance of him really more than just obligatory hospitality? Could it be? The thought seemed too good to be true, terrifyingly so- But Atem knew Yuugi’s father, and he knew that what he’d heard moments ago hadn’t been just empty reassurances. 

What had really gotten to Atem- A bit more than he’d expected, and almost certainly more than Yuugi’s father had expected- Was the statement that Atem had simply “taken longer to get there” than Yuugi had. It seemed like just an offhand comment, an awkward reassurance, and yet… It meant more to Atem than Mr. Mutou could have possibly known. 

He’d long been insecure about the… _Circumstances_ of his existence, as it were, knowing that he hadn’t been born to his parents the way Yuugi had. It wasn’t as if Atem thought that families were defined only by flesh and blood (After all, there was no denying the depth of the bonds between the Ishtar siblings), but it was one thing for a family to actively decide to adopt someone, and another thing entirely for a stranger to walk in, already claiming to be their biological child; Even if, logically, the fact that he and Yuugi were two halves of the same soul meant that Yuugi’s parents were technically his own parents as well, how could Atem have truly been their son if he hadn’t come into the world the way other people did? How could someone who had simply _appeared_ one day claim to have any blood relations at all? 

He’d spent so long feeling like an impostor, worrying that his parents would always think of him as an outsider, a parasite; To hear that they didn’t think of him that way was a massive relief. He felt… Lighter, clearer, like a physical weight had been lifted off his body and soul. 

Like he could finally breathe.

Still… He couldn’t help still feeling hesitant. Things seemed almost too perfect to be real, and he still felt a tinge of anxiety, always whispering in the back of his mind: _It’s too good to be true. There has to be a catch. It’s not going to last. It’s not real._

It was so hard to relax when he always felt like he was seconds away from losing everything. It was hard to even _allow_ himself to try to loosen up, when a part of him remained convinced that doing so could be a fatal mistake. It was just… So hard to take the risk.

He took another deep, shaky breath, and tried to remind himself that he didn’t have nearly as much to fear as he thought he did; His anxiety was mostly irrational, he knew- Yet that, too, was hard to accept, with part of him still so afraid of what might happen if he let his guard down. 

When had he become so controlled by fear, he wondered? He knew he hadn’t always been like this- He’d been in plenty of terrifying, seemingly no-win situations, and one way or another he’d always managed to swallow his fear and fight for whatever small chance he had. Why couldn’t he do that now? Why was the thought of opening up to his parents seemingly so much more insurmountably terrifying than every life-or-death fight he’d been in? It just didn’t make sense; It frustrated him, having the awareness to know that he was being stupid, yet not having the courage to stop. He _knew_ what he needed to do, yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

In all honesty, he was a mess of emotions. Overwhelming relief at the thought that his father really did see him as family; Anxiety that it might be too good to be true; Anger at himself for self-sabotaging his relationships due to fear; Sorrow that his life had put him in such a situation. And, of course, excitement at the thought of adopting a cat. (God, he loved cats.)

Good emotions, bad emotions- All of them had left him feeling rather drained, and he sighed, leaning back against his car seat. He closed his still-wet eyes for a few seconds, and then opened them again, glancing down at the bag in his arms.

...How sad it was, he thought, that everything he owned fit in a battered old sack that wasn’t even his. 

As Atem contemplated this, the car door suddenly opened, causing Atem to jump slightly in surprise. Mr. Mutou smiled and gave a small wave hello as he sat down, placing a plastic shopping bag on the floor.

“Hey,” Mr. Mutou greeted Atem cheerfully. “Sorry I took so long. There was a bit of a line.”

Atem gave a quiet hum of acknowledgement, but otherwise said nothing. He watched in silence as Mr. Mutou began taking things out of the bag.

“Here,” Mr. Mutou said, dropping several items onto Atem’s lap. “These are for you.”

“For… Me?” Atem repeated in confusion, tilting his head as he investigated the items: A bottle of water, a pack of tissues, and- A chocolate bar?

Mr. Mutou nodded, and took out a can of green tea for himself. “Yup, for you! Oh, uh- Do you like chocolate?” he wondered, frowning slightly as he realized he hadn’t checked. “It’s ok if you don’t, I can-”

“Oh, uh, I like chocolate,” Atem assured him quickly. “Um… Th-Thank you.”

Mr. Mutou smiled widely, and buckled his seatbelt, taking a sip of tea as he started the car. 

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Atem guzzled the water gratefully, taking a deep breath once he finally put the bottle down; He blew his nose several times, used one more tissue to wipe his eyes, and finally unwrapped the chocolate bar, taking an eager bite out of the corner. Its sweet taste was a welcome relief, a positive sensation after all the unpleasant ones that came with crying. 

Atem stared out the window as he chewed, avoiding eye contact with his father. Mr. Mutou remained cheerfully silent as well- Though Atem did catch him occasionally glancing towards him in the mirror, a hint of worry in his expression.

“...Um. I’m- I’m really sorry for… Freaking out like that,” Atem began hesitantly, glancing only briefly at his father before looking away again. “I, um- I just- Um, I don’t know, I… I-I guess I, uh, jumped to- I guess I- I-I don’t- …I’m sorry,” he repeated once again, fumbling over his words as his mind tried and failed over and over to find anything he could possibly say to make his extreme behavior less embarrassing. He bit his lip, and curled in on himself slightly in shame, feeling his eyes begin to water up again at the memory of the incident.

“Hey, it’s ok. Don’t worry about it,” Mr. Mutou replied gently. “I’m just glad we got things cleared up. And I’m sorry again for scaring you.”

“Y-Yeah.” Atem nodded awkwardly, not really sure what to say.

He glanced out the window, and frowned, taking another bite of his chocolate bar. There was more he needed to say, he knew; He sighed, took another sip of water, and bit his lip, taking a deep breath as he prepared to continue.

“Um… I’m… I’m sorry I’m so- I-I dunno, standoffish or whatever,” he muttered, frowning as he continued. “It’s… You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Mr. Mutou promised once again. “Although, if you don’t mind me asking… What _does_ have you so nervous?” he wondered, glancing towards Atem with a worried look before quickly turning his attention back towards the road.

Atem sighed. “I don’t know… I guess, it’s just…” 

He trailed off for a moment, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

“...My… Existence, up until now, has been… Very different from other people’s. The thought of just, having a normal life- I-It just feels so impossible to me,” he explained. “I always feel like… Like there must be some sort of catch. A-And I know this is all strange and unexpected for you, and I know I- Can be a lot to deal with, so… I don’t know. I guess I just… Keep expecting the worst. I don’t know. I’m sorry. I just… Really thought I could never really be a part of the family,” he admitted quietly.

Mr. Mutou bit his lip, but nodded as he continued driving. “I see… That makes sense,” he replied. “Well, I can tell you this much: I meant everything I said before. I really did. Yeah, this whole thing _is_ strange and unexpected and confusing- But that doesn’t mean we don’t want you here,” he pointed out. “I promise you, neither me nor mom would ever kick you out, or lie to you, and if we had a problem with you we’d talk to you about it politely. And- And I know I can’t exactly just make you trust me if you’re not ready to, but… I can at least tell you how I feel.”

“Mm. Thank you,” Atem muttered, quiet but sincere. “I’m- I am trying. But… Maybe I should try harder.”

“You don’t have to push yourself if you’re not ready to,” Mr. Mutou assured him. “I don’t mind if you’re not exactly ready to be best friends right away. I just don’t want you to think you have to be so scared all the time, that’s all.”

“Y-Yeah. I know. That’s the hard part,” Atem admitted. “But… I’ll try. Thank you.”

Atem took a shaky breath, blowing his nose once again. For a while, the car was silent, both occupants taking some time to breathe after such a heavy conversation.

“...Are you really getting a cat?” Atem wondered after a few minutes, recalling the supposed reason they were even in the car in the first place.

Mr. Mutou shook his head. _“I’m_ not getting a cat; _You’re_ getting a cat,” he clarified with a smile. “It’s a present for you. To help cheer you up while Yuugi’s at school.”

“Like- Really? For real? A real cat?!” Atem gasped.

“Yup, a real cat.”

“Oh…” Atem said with quiet awe, trailing off for a moment as this sunk in. “Wow… Um, thank you. A lot. I- I really like cats,” he stammered, a nervous energy about him as he tried to keep himself acting calm.

Mr. Mutou grinned. “Great! I’m glad. I hope we can find a good one.”

Atem nodded, and took another bite of his chocolate bar, watching the city go by with lingering nervousness and wide-eyed anticipation.

* * *

Atem glanced up at the building before him curiously, his bag slung lazily over his shoulder as he stared.

Domino City Animal Adoption Center was a rather unassuming building, of the sort that felt like it had been built to be new and state-of-the-art perhaps a few years ago, and was now just slightly starting to show its age. A sign on the front welcomed visitors in with cute cartoon animals, while smaller text beneath it proclaimed the facility’s hours of operation. Through a window Atem could see the front desk, several doors, and a small seating area with animal-related magazines and pamphlets.

“Good morning!” the front desk clerk greeted them as they walked through the door. “How can we help you today?”

“Good morning. We’re looking to adopt a cat,” Mr. Mutou answered, as Atem looked over the room.

The clerk gave a wide, polite smile. “Great! Right this way.”

Atem continued to look curiously at his surroundings as they followed the clerk around a corner and down a short hallway. The building, though clearly regularly cleaned, did distinctly smell like animals; A few people passed them by, both visitors and volunteers, and Atem even saw a dog.

“This is the cat room,” the clerk announced, pushing open a door. “Nakamura-san will help you from here. Good luck!”

Atem’s eyes must have been as wide as his whole face as he followed Mr. Mutou into the room, staring in every direction and walking almost on autopilot.

The room was large, with a window at one end, softening the sunlight with sheer curtains; The walls were lined with spacious cells, made comfortable with blankets, beds, toys, and other fittings.

And in every single one of those cells.

Was. 

_A cat._

Atem could barely contain his excitement as he took in the sheer number of cats. Big cats, little cats, fluffy cats, tabby cats, sleeping cats, playing cats- It was all so much. Some cells had two or three cats, to keep each other company, while other, smaller cells held singular cats who preferred a bit more solitude. Every single cat in the room looked absolutely perfect to Atem, and he felt overwhelmed, eager to get to know each one of them. 

“Woah, this is a lot of cats!” Mr. Mutou exclaimed, echoing Atem’s sentiment in a far more composed manner than Atem himself possibly could.

“Hello, welcome,” an older woman- Presumably Nakamura- Greeted them cheerfully. “What can I do for you? Are you looking to adopt, or just visiting?”

“We’re looking for a cat for my son here,” Mr. Mutou answered, patting Atem’s shoulder as if for emphasis. 

(Atem thought his heart was going to jump right out of his chest at this statement.)

Nakamura smiled, oblivious to Atem’s inner shock. “That’s great! Is there any particular kind of cat you had in mind..?”

“Hmm… Well, I guess a cat that likes to be around people would be good, but we’re open to whatever,” Mr. Mutou decided, even as his gaze- And, soon, his body- drifted towards the nearest cat. “Oh, what a cutie! Hello!” he exclaimed.

Atem, meanwhile, stood in the middle of the room, too overwhelmed to know where to go first; There were just _so_ many cats, and he wanted to befriend all of them. He found himself wandering first towards a pair, a calico and a white cat.

“Hello!” Atem greeted the cats.

Both cats perked up; The white cat remained contentedly where it lay, not terribly interested in getting up, while the calico chirped curiously and bounded towards the front of the cell.

“You’re so- Oh! Hi! Ok!” Atem exclaimed in surprise as the cat put its paw between the bars of the cell door; Atem hesitantly reached out, petting it gently. “Hello! Oh, you’re so soft…”

“That’s Miki,” Nakamura told Atem with a smile. “The one behind her is Snowball.”

“Wow…” Atem gasped, even as his attention was soon stolen by the cat in the cell to his right, meowing loudly. “Who’s this one?”

“Kurumi,” Nakamura replied.

Atem nodded, and reached out a hand to pet the top of Kurumi’s head. “Nice to meet you, Kurumi! You’re so cute!”

“Look at this one!” Mr. Mutou called from a few feet away. “It’s so fluffy!”

Atem wasted no time in hurrying over, gasping in awe at the tabby cat in the cell, its fur majestically long and fluffy. “Oh, wow…”

“That’s Tony,” Nakamura informed them. “He’s a bit older than most of the cats here, but he’s very sweet.”

“Oh, a big boy,” Mr. Mutou laughed, as he reached up to pet Tony. “Hi! Oh, you’re just the softest, aren’t you?”

Atem, meanwhile, had already moved on to the next cell, watching the significantly smaller cat inside jump and bat at a toy ball.

“How many are we getting?” Atem asked.

“Just one,” Mr. Mutou replied.

Atem’s face fell, as he realized the choices were going to be a lot more difficult than he had expected. “Oh…”

“Why? How many did you think we were getting?” Mr. Mutou wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Atem shrugged. “I dunno… I was thinking maybe six or seven,” he replied.

“You thought we were getting _how many?!”_ Mr. Mutou blurted out, staring at Atem in wide-eyed disbelief.

Atem frowned. “Is that a lot..? I used to have about fifteen, I think…” he muttered in confusion. “Although I guess our house isn’t that big, so maybe three or four would be better…”

“You had… Fifteen cats?” Mr. Mutou repeated, as if not sure what he’d just heard.

“Mhmm. Well, I guess they weren’t really _my_ cats- They were just cats that lived in the palace, to keep out mice and snakes and stuff,” Atem explained. “But I named all of them. Let’s see… There was Kiki, Baby, Midnight, Nofret, Mekit, Pointy, Sunshine, Henuttawy, Meritpakhet, Bastard, Captain, Horse, Miuhotep, Brick-”

Before Atem could continue, a door he hadn’t noticed before opened, startling him slightly (Along with several of the cats).

“-Really sweet, honestly!” 

“Look, I just don’t think a one-eared cat should be allowed to roam around during visiting hours, that’s all,” A man said as he entered the room, followed by a woman and a young man. “It’s creepy! It’ll scare the kids!”

The woman behind him nodded in agreement. “I’m sure it has a nice personality… I guess… But I’d just like a cat that’s- You know, cute. Like this one,” she said, turning towards one of the cages. “Look at you, aren’t you a cutie pie!” she said in a high-pitched babytalk voice, reaching out to pet the cat. “You’ve got both _your_ ears! Isn’t that much nicer? Aww, aren’t you just the sweetest?”

Atem frowned; He knew it was rude to listen in on other people’s conversations, but what he’d heard didn’t quite sit right with him. He watched the young man, evidently a volunteer at the shelter, slip back into the other room with a dejected look.

“...Excuse me,” Atem said quietly to Nakamura. “I heard something about a one-eared cat..?”

“Ah, yes. That would be Cocoa-chan,” Nakamura answered, and Atem couldn’t help but notice the sigh in her voice, a slight look of pity on her face. “She’s such a friendly thing, but unfortunately a lot of people dislike cats that look… A little less than perfect. Cats like that rarely get adopted,” she admitted, and then lowered her voice to almost a whisper, glancing towards the couple to make sure they weren’t listening. “If you ask me, it’s shameful, the way people treat these animals just because they don’t like the way they look. Humans are so cruel.”

“That is sad,” Mr. Mutou joined in, biting his lip. 

Atem nodded, and resisted the urge to scowl at the couple, instead turning his attention back towards Nakamura. “Could I see the cat?”

Nakamura smiled at this. “Oh, yes, of course! She’s in the play room right now- We make sure all the cats get some time to run around every day. Inoue-kun is in there right now, he’ll answer any of your questions,” she explained, nodding towards the door. “Just knock on the door, and make sure you close it right away when you go in.”

“Got it. Thank you,” Atem replied with a polite nod, and turned towards the door. Mr. Mutou followed, waiting patiently as Atem knocked.

Within a moment, the same young man from before opened the door, smiling brightly as he greeted them. “Hi! Welcome to the- Goku, _no,”_ he interrupted himself, bending over to pick up a large calico cat. “Stop trying to escape, you naughty boy, you.”

Mr. Mutou laughed. “So I guess you’re the cat-herder, huh?” he teased.

Whatever the response was to Mr. Mutou’s horrible dad joke, Atem didn’t hear it. He stood frozen in the doorway, as his mind suddenly seemed to register only one thing, and one alone.

There, in the middle of the room, stood the most perfect cat in the whole universe.

A small, short-haired cat, with sleek black fur, dark as night- Yet where the sun hit just right, Atem could almost see tabby stripes, as if the cat itself were iridescent; Chunky-yet-delicate little paws so round Atem thought his heart might melt; A big, round head, with one perky little ear, the sweetest little nose, and big, curious yellow eyes, a face so gently curved and so soft and so bright Atem could hardly believe it. Everything, _everything_ about the little black cat with the missing left ear was so perfect, so sweet, so beautiful- The way she stood, the way she looked around with her tail pointed curiously in the air, head tilted just so. 

She looked up at him with those big, shining baby eyes, and Atem thought for sure he was going to drop dead on the spot; He felt dazed, overwhelmed, as if his excitement and joy and love for this little cat was too much to possibly express, too much for his small body to possibly contain, so much that he felt like he was going to collapse and explode all at once.

The cat was looking at him. The cat was _looking at him!_

“Ohhhhh my god,” he squeaked breathlessly, meeting the cat’s gaze with wide eyes. “Oh my god… Oh my god, look at her…”

“That’s Cocoa,” the young man- Inoue, Atem recalled- said with a smile. “You can pet her, she’s very friendly.”

Atem trembled slightly with excitement as he crouched down on the floor, holding out his hand towards the cat, moving carefully and slowly for fear of scaring her off. 

“Hi, Cocoa,” he whispered, watching, waiting for her to make a move, hoping she’d let him pet her.

Atem watched as Cocoa leaned towards him, sniffing curiously. She took a step, and then back again, hesitant and fickle as cats were, and Atem found himself holding his breath in anticipation; After a few seconds, Cocoa walked slowly closer to Atem, and leaned forward just enough for him to reach her head.

The only thing that kept Atem from screaming in excitement was the knowledge that cats did not enjoy screaming.

“She’s so _small,”_ he gasped, as he gently petted the top of her head, watching her nuzzle happily against his hand. “I love her…”

“Is she a baby?” Mr. Mutou asked, far more calm than Atem.

Inoue shook his head. “Not quite a baby-baby, but she is young,” he answered. “We think she’s about five months- Just about a teenager, in cat years. She’s a little small for her age.”

“She’s so- Oh!” Atem gasped as Cocoa suddenly flopped down on the ground, leaving his hand empty in the air. She rolled around, practically bouncing, watching Atem as if waiting for him to do something.

“Looks like she wants to play with you,” Inoue commented, with a slight laugh. “There’s some toys around, you can use any- ...Well, actually, any of them except that ball in the corner. I think Fuku will probably bite you if you try to take it from him.” He nodded towards the tabby cat batting a small ball back and forth near the back of the room.

Atem opted for a string toy, with a long rod on one end and a bright feather on the other. He dangled it above Cocoa’s head, and within seconds, she grabbed at it, pulling it down towards her; Atem pulled it back, and laughed as she jumped, eager to play aerial tug-of-war.

“Thank you for playing with her,” Inoue said as he watched the two play, still holding a cat in his arms. “Cocoa-chan loves to play, but not many visitors will interact with her because of her ear…”

“What happened to it?” Mr. Mutou wondered, as Atem and Cocoa continued to play.

“We don’t know. She used to be a stray- Her ear was in pretty bad shape when someone found her, poor thing. Luckily, the vet got it nice and cleaned up, so she’s alright now.”

“It’s not going to cause her problems, is it?”

Inoue shook his head. “It shouldn’t, no. The injury’s all healed now, so the only real problem she has is that people don’t-”

“We _have_ to adopt her,” Atem decided abruptly, looking up at Mr. Mutou with a pleading expression. (By this point, Atem was lying on the floor, with Cocoa seemingly trying to wrestle with his hand as he petted her.)

Mr. Mutou blinked. “A-Are you sure? I mean-”

“Look at her! She’s _perfect!”_ Atem exclaimed, baffled that this was even a question. “I love her so much. We have to take her.”

“I’m not saying she’s not a good cat,” Mr. Mutou clarified. “All I’m saying is that there’s a lot of cats here- Are you sure this is the one you want? It’s a big decision, so you have to think carefully.”

“It has to be her. I know it.”

Mr. Mutou paused for a moment, watching the two; They looked for all the world as if they were already best friends. 

“...Yeah, I guess it does, huh? In that case…” Mr. Mutou turned towards Inoue. “What do we need to do to take her home?”

Inoue gave a bright, genuine smile. “Oh, I’m so glad to hear that! I thought she might never get adopted, poor thing,” he admitted. “Go to the front desk and let them know you’ve made your choice. They’ll give you the paperwork.”

Mr. Mutou nodded. “Great. And what supplies should we get to start out?”

“Well, the absolute basics would be food and water bowls, a litter box and litter, kitty nail clippers, a grooming brush, a carrier, and a scratching post,” Inoue explained. “A collar is a good idea in case she gets out, and a bed is a possibility if you don’t want her sleeping wherever she wants. Toys are a good idea, but cats can be pretty easily entertained by things like paper bags or ping-pong balls, too. As for food, talk to Nakamura-san, she might be able to give you some recommendations,” he added, nodding towards the door. 

“Got it, thanks.” Mr. Mutou smiled politely, and then turned towards Atem. “Do you want to stay here while I fill out the paperwork?”

“Yes, please,” Atem replied, his eyes still on Cocoa as he pulled the string toy just out of her reach once again.

Mr. Mutou laughed. “Alright. I’ll be back in a few minutes, then.”

With that, Mr. Mutou left the room, closing the door carefully behind him. (Goku, fortunately, remained inside, contained- Much to his apparent irritation- Firmly within Inoue’s arms.) Atem remained seated on the floor, oblivious to the passage of time, still just as hopelessly smitten with the little black cat with the missing ear. 

“...I know I said it already, but I’m really glad you’re taking Cocoa-chan,” Inoue said quietly after a few minutes. “Working at shelters, you get used to seeing all kinds of animals, but… Most people, not so much. A lot of people don’t seem to want to even go near her, let alone adopt her.”

“They’re fools who are unworthy of her greatness,” Atem muttered darkly. 

Inoue blinked. “I… I guess that’s one way of putting it, sure?”

“I mean, look at her. She’s a perfect cat,” Atem insisted, gesturing to the cat in question. “So what if she’s missing an ear? She’s still adorable. Aren’t you, kitty?” he added, scratching Cocoa’s chin gently. “See, you’re a good girl, aren’t you? A perfect kitty? I love you! You’re sooooo-”

Atem glanced up as the door suddenly opened, startling Cocoa to her feet, and a familiar figure entered.

“Hey, quick question,” Mr. Mutou said, pen still in hand. “Are you going to keep the same name for her? Or did you want to change it?”

Atem paused for a moment, tilting his head as he thought about it; “Cocoa” _was_ something of a cliche name, he thought.

“Let’s see… What kind of name would be good for you..?” he wondered, watching the cat climb up a cat tower. “Hmm… How about… Princess…”

“Oh, that’s a nice name, very-”

“...Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Atem finished with a decisive nod.

“...Ah. I see,” Mr. Mutou said, his smile faltering slightly for a brief moment.

Inoue bit bask a snicker. “Interesting name choice… Are you a Duel Monsters fan?”

“Mhmm.”

“How do you, um… How do you spell that?” Mr. Mutou asked, frowning in confusion. 

“‘Pu-ri-n-se-su’, but written like ‘Hime’,” Atem answered. “Then ‘Bu-ra-kku E-ku-su-’”

“You know what? Why don’t you come write it,” Mr. Mutou interrupted flatly.

Atem frowned slightly, but nodded. “If you insist.”

Mr. Mutou waited patiently as Atem stood up, leaning over to pet the newly-rechristened Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. 

“I’ll see you in a little while, ok?” he told her gently, giving her one last pat on the head before following Mr. Mutou out of the room.

* * *

“Wow. That… Sure is a name,” Mr. Mutou commented, raising an eyebrow as he glanced over Atem’s shoulder at the paper. 

“I think it suits her,” Atem replied cheerfully. 

“Well, if you’re sure…” Mr. Mutou sighed, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck in dismay. “In any case, remember, she’ll be your cat. That means you have to be the one responsible for her- You have to feed her, and change her litter box, and all that,” he reminded Atem. “Are you sure you can handle that?”

“Of course! I’ll take good care of her,” Atem promised with a nod.

The clerk at the front desk smiled at Atem. “First pet, huh? How old are you, kiddo?”

“Seventeen,” Atem replied flatly.

The clerk’s smile soon faltered, his face failing to hide his internal backtracking; Atem rolled his eyes, feeling an urge to sigh.

“O-Oh! Well, that’s… Certainly old enough, then,” the clerk said with an awkward, nervous laugh as he took the papers. “A-Anyway, uh… By the way, have you bought supplies for your new cat yet?”

Mr. Mutou shook his head. “Not yet. That’s where we’re headed next, I guess.”

“There’s a pet store across the street,” the clerk informed him, pointing towards the window. “If you want, we can hold her here until you get your shopping done.”

“Oh, would you really? That would be great,” Mr. Mutou replied, smiling in relief. “Thank you so much.”

“Oh, it’s no problem. By the way, the store across the street is affiliated with us, so if you show them her papers, you’ll get a discount,” the clerk added.

“Really? Wow! Good to know, thanks! Well, see you in a little while, then.”

As Mr. Mutou headed outside, Atem took one last glance towards the cat room, before following after him.

* * *

The pet supply store across the street was much larger than Atem had expected, to his surprise; He hadn’t expected there to be such a variety in supplies offered. Still, it didn’t take long to gather basic supplies- A cat bed, a scratching post, a brush, a litter box, food… For the most part, everything was an easy decision, until it came to the most important choice of all: A collar.

Atem fidgeted with the string on his bag as he stared up at the wall of cat collars, looking over the options. There was a surprisingly large variety of styles available. Atem stared contemplatively at a black collar with metal studs, almost going so far as to reach for it, before changing his mind; He didn’t want to get anything that might have been uncomfortable for his new friend.

“Oh, this one’s cute! Look, it’s made of kimono fabric!” Mr. Mutou commented, holding up one of the collars. “How about this one?”

Atem shook his head. “Not that one. It’s got a bell on it.”

Mr. Mutou frowned in confusion. “Aren’t cat collars supposed to have bells on them?” he recalled, raising an eyebrow.

“I guess, but… I don’t know. It seems kind of mean to me,” Atem said, biting his lip. “I mean, having a bell that rings whenever she moves, 24/7? What if she just wants some peace and quiet? It doesn’t seem fair to do that against her will.”

“Fair point, I guess,” Mr. Mutou admitted with a shrug, and said nothing more.

Atem continued to look over the selection of collars, searching for a design worthy of Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. A flash of light caught his attention; His eyes widened as his gaze fell upon a purple collar, adorned with small yet glimmering rhinestones. He immediately reached to grab it- And then frowned as it jingled.

“Oh… This one’s got a bell on it too,” he muttered, scowling slightly in disappointment.

“Hmm… You know, you might be able to take the bell off,” Mr. Mutou suggested. “I’m pretty sure we’ve got a pair of wire cutter pliers somewhere.”

“I guess that’s true,” Atem realized, tilting his head as he considered this idea; After a moment, he nodded, and took the collar down from the hook.

“Alright,” Mr. Mutou said as Atem tossed the collar into the basket, bell jingling quietly. “What’s next? A bowl, right?”

“Mm.”

As they began to walk away, Mr. Mutou suddenly paused, glancing curiously at a small selection of what appeared to be some sort of harnesses.

“What’s this..?” he wondered, taking one down to examine it. “‘Take your cat for walks’? Now that’s just silly! Can you imagine a cat on a leash? I mean, come on!” he laughed.

“Oh, let’s get that,” Atem decided.

Mr. Mutou blinked, both eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “What? Really? Why?”

“Because…” Atem paused for a moment, glancing down thoughtfully and biting his lip. “I don’t want to keep Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock inside all the time, but… I don’t think she should be going outside by herself. I mean, what if she gets hit by a car? Or eats something that’ll make her sick?” He shook his head at the thought. “If I can put her on a leash, then I can take her for walks. That sounds much safer than just letting her wander the neighborhood.”

Mr. Mutou raised an eyebrow, looking thoroughly unconvinced. “I mean… I dunno how well putting a cat on a leash would work out, but… I guess you’re welcome to try, if you really want to,” he gave in, tossing the harness into the basket.

(Atem took it out again, and quickly swapped it for a purple one before hurrying after his father.)

Atem caught up to Mr. Mutou in the bowl aisle, where an equally large selection of food and water bowls presented yet more choices.

“Hmm…” Mr. Mutou pondered the bowls, glancing towards a plastic one with brightly colored flowers printed around the outside edge. “This one’s cute, it’s got-”

Mr. Mutou blinked as Atem dropped two bowls into the basket, evidently unimpressed by the rest of the selection.

“Those ones? Are you sure?” Mr. Mutou asked, glancing at the rather plain (Albeit shiny) metal bowls in the basket.

Atem shrugged. “They’re copper. They’ll keep the water cleaner.”

Mr. Mutou frowned in confusion. “What..?”

Atem did not elaborate, preoccupied with looking over the contents of their shopping basket. “This should be everything, right?”

“Oh, uh… Yeah, I think so,” Mr. Mutou confirmed. “Should we go get a tag for her collar, then?”

Atem nodded, and with that, the two set out for the tag engraving kiosk.

Pet tags, it seemed, came in far fewer styles than other accessories, with only a handful of stainless steel shapes: A circle, an oval, a square, a classic dog tag, a dog bone, a star, a heart. Atem chose a circle, simple yet elegant.

“Here,” the young man behind the counter said, sliding a battered old pen and a sticky note pad across the counter. “Write down the name, phone number, and anything else you’d like engraved. Please keep it to three lines.”

Atem took the notepad and pen, and then paused for a moment as he began writing the name. “Can you do furigana?” he asked. 

The man behind the counter gave an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately not. I’m sorry. If you like, you could put the kanji on one line, and the reading on another?” he suggested, shrugging.

Atem nodded, and continued writing. A short moment later, he handed the notepad and pen back.

The man behind the counter stared silently at the paper.

“...This is… A little long,” he said awkwardly. “I’m very sorry, but you’ll need to shorten it somehow. Our machine can’t do anything that long.”

“Oh.” Atem frowned. “Well how short does it have to be?”

“Six full-width characters, or twelve half-width characters.”

Atem grimaced. “Seriously? Geez, ok…”

(Mr. Mutou quietly refrained from making a comment about how this would not have been an issue if Atem hadn’t picked an absurdly long name.)

With some reluctance, Atem revised the memo; Rather then writing kanji and katakana, he included only kanji, placing half of the name on the first line and half on the second. Sighing, he once again returned the notepad and pen. 

The man behind the counter nodded in approval, and within minutes, a shiny new tag with Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock’s information on it was finished. Mr. Mutou took the tag, as well as the receipt.

“Thank you!”

“Have a nice day,” the young man called after them as they left, shaking his head in disbelief at such a strange cat name. 

Atem couldn’t help feeling impatient as they got in line at the checkout, eager to leave the pet supply store and pick up Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. Soon they’d be bringing her home! He hoped she’d like it. The whole thing still felt surreal to him; Just a few hours ago, he never would have expected to have a cat. Now, he was buying supplies for the sweetest cat he had ever seen in his life, and she was _his._

Atem bounced on his heels slightly as they left, ready to bring his new friend home.

* * *

“We’re back,” Mr. Mutou called out, pushing past the curtain and into the house.

“Welcome back,” Mrs. Mutou replied from the living room. 

She glanced up at the sound of clamoring and rustling shopping bags, wondering where they’d gone; She raised an eyebrow at the the sight of her husband and new son carrying several large bags and items into the living room, including what appeared to be… A cat scratching post..?

“...What’s all this?” she questioned, hoping the answer wasn’t what she thought it was.

“Cat stuff!” Mr. Mutou replied cheerfully.

“Ok… Why?”

“For the new cat, of course.”

There was a pause. 

“For the _what?!”_ Mrs. Mutou shrieked.

Mr. Mutou glanced up as he put the scratching post down in the corner, raising an eyebrow. “What are you acting all surprised for? I told you I was getting Atem a cat, didn’t I?”

“No, you sure the hell did _not!”_ Mrs. Mutou insisted.

“What? Yes I did. We talked about it this morning, remember?” Mr. Mutou recalled, frowning in confusion. 

“No, we ‘talked about’ how Atem _kind of_ reminds you of a cat,” Mrs. Mutou retorted. “And then _you_ said, ‘Maybe a cat would cheer him up, he seems like a cat person’,” she recounted, waving her hands in an exaggerated, sarcastic impression of her husband, “And _I_ said, ‘I don’t think a lack of cats is the root of his depression’, and then that was the end of the conversation. That is not ‘talking about it!’”

Atem stood awkwardly in the doorway, not sure what he was supposed to do, eyes darting around the room nervously as he held Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock’s carrier.

“What’s the big deal, anyway?” Mr. Mutou wondered.

“What kind of a question is that?! The ‘big deal’ is you can’t just buy a _cat_ on impulse!”’ Mrs. Mutou insisted. “I mean, that’s a big life decision! For the household! You didn’t ask anyone if they were ok with that!”

Mr. Mutou seemed to shrink back slightly. “W-Well, I mean.. We all like cats, right? I just figured-”

“And more importantly, this house is _not_ cat-proof,”’ Mrs. Mutou continued. “What if it scratches the furniture? What if it pees on the carpet? What if it eats something it shouldn’t eat? What if it gets into the shop and gives a customer an allergic reaction? I mean, god, Shougi, did you think this through at _all?!”_

Mr. Mutou said nothing; He blushed bright red in embarrassment, and bit his lip with a guilty expression 

Mrs. Mutou paused in her raging for a brief moment, closing her eyes and holding up her hands as if signaling the world around her to stop.

“Ok… Ok,” she whispered to herself, taking a deep breath. “Atem?”

Atem jumped slightly, startled. “Yes?”

“Take the cat, and-”

“Wait, we’re not going to take her back to the shelter, are we?!” Atem blurted out the second the possibility occurred to him, eyes going wide in horror.

Mrs. Mutou blinked. “I-”

“They said no one else would adopt her because she’s missing an ear,” Atem recounted, with a pleading tone. “We- We got her a collar and everything, and I-” He paused for a moment, his eyes watering against his will- “I-I really just think it would be kind of cruel to, to make her think she has a family and then- Just send her back, just because-”

“No, I agree with you, it wouldn’t be fair to take her back,” Mrs. Mutou interrupted. “I can’t _believe_ this is happening, but we’ll find a way to make it work. Don’t worry.”

Atem blinked in surprise, falling quiet once more. “Oh.”

“Take her up to your room,” Mrs. Mutou instructed him. “Make sure there’s nothing on the floor that she could swallow, and nothing lying around that she shouldn’t be able to get at. Don’t let her out of the room until I say so. And _you,”_ she said, turning towards Mr. Mutou with a glare. _“You_ are going to help me cat-proof this whole damn house, or so help me god.”

“Y-Yes ma’am!” Mr. Mutou promised with a fearful nod.

Atem nodded as well, turning towards the stairs. “Ok, um- I-I’m really sorry for the trouble-”

“Oh, no, no, sweetie, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Mrs. Mutou promised, with a far more gentle tone and an attempt at a reassuring smile (though it wound up more of a mildly threatening grimace). “It’s your _father_ who should have _known better,”_ she added with a snap, turning to glare at the father in question. (Mr. Mutou put his hands up in surrender.)

“Alright, um… Thanks,” Atem said hesitantly, and then hurried up the stairs.

* * *

Atem sighed as he put Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock’s carrier down on the floor, closing the door gently behind him. 

“Sorry about that, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” he said, glancing around the room. “I’ll let you out as soon as I clean up.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, of course, gave no response, though Atem could hear her scratching at the inside of the carrier. 

Atem hurried to clean up the room, checking for anything that might have been unsafe for a cat to get ahold of; Fortunately, the room was already fairly tidy, so there wasn’t much to do. 

He quickly scooped up the legos he’d left out and put them back in their bin, and, as an afterthought, dumped the toy cars on the shelf in with them before sealing the bin. He took the pen cup on the desk and put it in one of the drawers; Finally, he gave the room one last look over- And then paused as he realized how bare it seemed. That wasn’t right either, he realized. 

Atem crouched down on the floor, leaning over to look inside the cat carrier; He couldn’t help but grin as he caught sight of Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock.

“I’ll be right back, ok?” he told her gently. “I’m just gonna go some stuff for you, and then I’ll let you out, don’t worry. I won’t be long. I love you, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” he added with a smile.

With that, Atem slipped quietly out of the room and back down the stairs. He noticed an unusually strong draft as he reached the first floor, coming from the living room; Upon entering the room, he found the sliding glass side door open, and Mrs. Mutou dragging the potted tree in the corner towards the door.

“Did you need something, sweetie?” Mrs. Mutou asked as she noticed Atem.

“Oh, um… I was just gonna bring some things upstairs,” Atem explained awkwardly. “You know, like the litter box. ‘Cause, um- It’d be bad if she peed on Yuugi’s stuff.”

“Mm, you make a good point,” Mrs. Mutou grunted as she dragged the heavy pot a little closer to the door.

Atem paused for a moment, glancing between the struggling Mrs. Mutou and the tree.

“...Um… Do you… Do you want help? With that?” he asked hesitantly.

“That would be lovely, if you don’t mind.”

Atem nodded, and walked over to the far side of the room, placing his hands on the opposite side of the pot as Mrs. Mutou to push.

The tree was far heavier than Atem had expected, leaving his arms exhausted from the effort- But after a few minutes, some teamwork, and no small amount of effort, Atem and Mrs. Mutou eventually managed to maneuver the tree out of the door and onto the patio.

Mrs. Mutou gave a deep sigh, wiping her brow. “Glad that’s taken care of… Thanks for your help,” she told Atem with a smile.

Atem gave a nervous smile back, and hurried to return to his task. 

The feeling of tired muscles, Atem thought, was a strange one. He’d experienced it once before, after the baseball game in the park, but even so, it still felt new and unfamiliar compared to the other bodily experiences he’d gradually begun to grow accustomed to over the past three weeks; It left his arms feeling sore, a bit warm, and perplexingly stiff yet shaky at the same time. The shakiness was the worst part, he thought- As hard as he tried to keep his hands steady, he still wound up spilling more than a few drops as he carried up a bowl of water for Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. Not to mention that carrying the bucket of kitty litter wasn’t exactly a breeze, either.

By the time he’d finished bringing everything upstairs, Atem wound up collapsing onto the bed, breathing heavily as he waited for his heart to stop pounding and his arms to stop burning. When only one of those things actually happened, he reluctantly decided to accept his fate, and continue on.

He once again crouched down by the cat carrier, smiling as he unlatched the door. “Ok, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. You can come out now.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock seemed to jump at the sound of the latch, glancing around confusedly; Atem gasped as he realized she’d been asleep.

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up! I’m sorry, baby,” Atem whispered apologetically. “You don’t have to come out if you don’t want to, you can go back to sleep. I’m sorry. I’ll leave you alone now, ok?”

With that, Atem stood up. He gave one last glance towards Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, pondering her carrier’s open door; How would she react to the house, he wondered? Would she like it? He hoped she would. 

No way to tell until she came out, anyway. With nothing left to to but wait, Atem decided to occupy himself by unpacking his bag. 

He couldn’t help but feel a lingering sense of unease and guilt as he opened the bag. It saddened him to think that he’d really been ready to pack up his things and leave the only home he knew at a moment’s notice; He was glad this wasn’t the case, but it still stung a bit when he thought about just how much he’d expected that reality. To think how temporary his entire life felt. 

At least it wasn’t real. He just needed to keep reminding himself of that.

He took Kuriboh out of the bag, gently fixing its messy fur; He glanced around hesitantly for a moment, and then leaned in slightly.

“Sorry for all the chaos, Kuriboh,” he whispered, as if afraid of being heard. (Or, more realistically, afraid of waking the sleeping kitten.)

He placed Kuriboh on the bed next to the pillow, gave it a gentle pat, and continued unpacking.

It really was sad, he thought, how everything he owned fit in one small bag. A boy his “age” should have had plenty of belongings: Clothes, shoes, books, games, tapes, school supplies, figurines, childhood toys, family photos, sentimental little things, knickknacks and assorted junk that should have been thrown out but never was, old school books… And yet, Atem had none of those things. Sure, he had a room full of plenty of things- But none of them were truly _his._ Not really.

Almost everything he owned, he owned by proxy, only his because Yuugi was kind enough to share; He was still wearing Yuugi’s clothes, sleeping in Yuugi’s bed, reading Yuugi’s books, playing Yuugi’s games. He had no true history with these things. The only material record of Atem’s existence was a sparse handful of clothes purchased less than a month ago, some fake documents, a blurry, slightly-crushed polaroid, and a doll.

Atem paused for a moment, frowning slightly as he put his jewelry away. What was he so upset about? So what if he didn’t have as much stuff as other people? What was he, some sort of greedy child, whining that he didn’t have enough toys? It didn’t matter. He had plenty. He had some clothes, he had his deck, he had his friends- That was all he needed.

(Deep down, though, he knew it wasn’t really the “stuff” he cared about. He didn’t want _things-_ He wanted a history, a childhood, a sense of normalcy. The idea that all evidence of his existence could be neatly packed away and removed within minutes scared him; He wanted to take up space, so that he could prove to the universe that he had a place in the world of the living. He didn’t want to be forgotten again.)

As he put the bag away and closed the closet door, Atem heard a quiet scuffling. He instantly whirled around, eyes wide and breath held in anticipation-

Sure enough, he saw a tiny, shiny black paw emerge from the cat carrier, soon followed by a head.

“Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock! You’re awake!” Atem gasped, careful to restrain his excitement as best he could- He didn’t want to startle her. “Good morning!”

Atem watched as Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock took one hesitant step out of the carrier, and then another, sniffing at the floor as she slowly began investigating her new surroundings. She turned around several times, as if unsure which way to go first; After a moment, she sniffed her way over to Atem, and then stared up at him, giving a small but enthusiastic mew of greeting.

“Hi!” Atem replied cheerfully, crouching down to get closer to Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock’s level. He held out his hand, letting her sniff it before carefully petting her head.

“Hi, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock! Welcome home!” Atem said in a quiet, high-pitched tone as he petted her, listening to her continued meows as she nuzzled against his hand. “Yeah! Hello! I love you!”

As Atem continued to greet Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, the door creaked open.

“Hi, Other Me,” Yuugi called out, yawning slightly. “Hey, do you know what’s going on downstairs? Mom’s, like, aggressively vacuuming and she keeps yelling at dad something about a- _Oh my god,”_ he gasped as his eyes fell upon the scene before him. 

Atem grinned. “Hey, Aibou.”

 _“Cat?!”_ Yuugi blurted out, freezing in place, eyes wide and entirely on Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock- Who, startled by the noise, dashed under the bed.

“Wait, it’s ok! Come back!” Atem exclaimed, and then sighed, his posture deflating slightly as he resigned to let the cat be.

“Wh… Where did you get a _cat?!”_ Yuugi wondered, his voice quieter yet his eyes still wide as saucers.

“The shelter,” Atem replied. “It’s, um, a long story. She lives with us now.”

Yuugi opened his mouth to say something- And then paused, frowning suspiciously. “Was this… Dad’s idea?” he guessed. 

Atem nodded.

“Well, I guess that explains some things,” Yuugi sighed.

He crouched down next to Atem, leaning over with his head close to the floor to look at Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. “Hi, kitty! Meow! Come here, kitty!”

“Her name is Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Atem informed him. 

“Hi, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock!” Yuugi called out sweetly. “Come here! It’s ok, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock leaned away, but sniffed the air; Yuugi held out his hand, and Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock leaned towards it, curious about this cheery newcomer.

After a moment or two, she slowly came out from under the bed. Yuugi was careful not to move too quickly, letting her investigate at her own pace, until she relaxed enough to allow him to pet her.

“She’s so _tiny,”_ Yuugi whispered in awe, gently running a hand along her back. “How old is she?”

“The people at the shelter said she’s about five months,” Atem answered. “She’s older than she looks. She’s just small.”

“Just like us!”

Atem smiled. “Yeah! I’m surprised by how outgoing she is, too,” he commented thoughtfully. “Most cats don’t like people this much… Maybe it’s because she’s so young?”

Yuugi shrugged. “Maybe. What happened to her ear?”

“Dunno. The people at the shelter said she lost it sometime before she was brought in.”

Yuugi gave a thoughtful hum, as Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock wandered towards the water dish. Both boys went quiet, watching the little cat that had been so cheerfully let loose in their room; After a moment of quiet thought, Atem suddenly seemed to remember Yuugi was there, and threw his arms around him.

“How was school?”

“It was boring,” Yuugi replied simply, returning the embrace. “Sounds like you had an interesting day, though.”

Atem groaned. “You don’t know the half of it,” he muttered.

Yuugi laughed, and then paused for a moment, tilting his head thoughtfully. “Have you had lunch today?”

“No,” Atem admitted.

“Let’s go eat lunch, and then you can tell me about it,” Yuugi suggested, nodding towards the door.

* * *

“Alright, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, ready to see the house?”

It had been several hours, and after no small amount of frantic cleaning, Mrs. Mutou had finally declared the house sufficiently cat-safe- Provided, of course, that she remained supervised. Meanwhile, Atem and Yuugi had been delighted to learn that Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock was perfectly comfortable being carried like a baby. And now, with the house clean and everyone fed, it was time to give the newest and tiniest member of the Mutou family a proper tour of the house. 

“This is the upstairs bathroom,” Atem informed Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, carrying her through the door. “This is where the bathtub is.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock sniffed the air and glanced around the room curiously, but was just as soon carried back out again.

“This is mom and dad’s room, and over there is grandpa’s room,” Atem continued, still holding Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock in his arms as he stood in the hall. “I won’t take you in there, because it’d be rude of me to go in other people’s bedrooms without permission, but maybe you can check them out another time, if they’re ok with that.”

“I’m gonna close the doors just in case,” Yuugi decided, reaching for the door to his parents’ room.

With that, Atem, Yuugi, and Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock made their way downstairs. Atem paused at the foot of the stairs, taking a few seconds to let Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock get her bearings. 

“I guess we’ll start with the living room,” Atem decided. Yuugi nodded in agreement.

“This is the living room,” Atem told Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, standing in the middle of the room. “This is where everybody hangs out. The TV is in here, and your scratching post, and we’ll put some toys for you in here too. There’s a door behind the curtains, too,” he added, nodding towards the sliding door he and Mrs. Mutou had taken the tree out through. “You’re not allowed to go outside by yourself, though.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock chirped as Yuugi reached out to pet her head, and then they continued on.

“This is the dining room,” Atem said, as they reached the next stop on the tour. “This is where we eat, at least when everybody’s home. I’m not sure yet if we’re going to put your food and water bowls here, or in the kitchen, but I’ll be one of the two,” he informed her.

Atem continued on into the kitchen. 

“This is-” He paused as he saw Yuugi’s mother. “O-Oh. Um… Hi. Again,” he muttered hesitantly, glancing away. 

“Hi, boys,” Mrs. Mutou greeted the group. “Oh! So this is the new kitten, huh?” she exclaimed as she saw Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, smiling warmly.

“Yup! We’re giving her a tour of the house. Her name’s Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Yuugi explained.

Mrs. Mutou raised an eyebrow. “It’s… What?”

“Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Yuugi repeated.

“...You two… Don’t have very good naming sense, do you?” Mrs. Mutou muttered.

“Hey! What’s wrong with it, exactly?!” Yuugi exclaimed, huffing slightly.

“Well, it’s a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it?” Mrs. Mutou pointed out. “And besides, a name like ‘Dark Eradicator Warlock’ isn’t exactly a nice name for a little girl… But I guess we can shorten it to ‘Princess’,” she decided, holding out a hand to let Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock smell her.

Atem frowned. “Her name is Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” he insisted.

 _“I_ think it’s a nice name,” Yuugi agreed, sticking his tongue out. “Why can’t it be a girl’s name? Girls can do dark magic too! Just ask Dark Magician Girl!”

“I… Guess,” Mrs. Mutou gave in, though her disdainful expression said otherwise.

 _“Anyway,”_ Yuugi said rather pointedly, turning his attention back towards Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. “This is the kitchen. This is where we-”

“Woah, hey!” Atem gasped as Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock suddenly squirmed out of his arms, just as Mrs. Mutou sat back down at the table.

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock walked right over to Mrs. Mutou, pacing around the floor and meowing loudly as she stared up at her.

“Oh, I think she wants your chips, mom,” Yuugi realized with a laugh.

“You can’t have any chips, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Atem told her apologetically, shaking his head. “They’re not for kitties.”

Mrs. Mutou laughed slightly. “No, these are- Ow ow _ow!_ Don’t do that!” she hissed as Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock began trying to climb her leg, still meowing. 

Atem gasped. “Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, _no!” h_ e exclaimed, quickly grabbing her and pulling her away. “Bad kitty. No claws.”

“L-Let’s take her out of the kitchen,” Yuugi suggested, wincing as he watched Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock continue to flail and complain in Atem’s arms.

“Good idea.”

By the time they returned to the living room, Atem had received a few scratches himself; Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock calmed down, however, after Yuugi gave her a treat.

“See, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock? You eat cat food, not human food, ok?” Yuugi told her, soft yet a little bit chiding, reaching out to scratch her chin as she finished the last of her snack.

“And you can’t just go climbing up people like that, ‘cause it hurts,” Atem added.

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock meowed cheerfully, oblivious to her crimes. 

“There, are you ready to keep going now?” Atem asked, once Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock was finished eating. “Come on, baby. Let’s go see the rest of the house.”

Atem carried Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock out of the living room and back into the hall, with Yuugi following closely behind. Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock glanced around curiously, occasionally letting out quiet mews and chirps of interest.

“This is the downstairs bathroom,” Atem informed her. “We’re gonna put the litter box in here, so if you need to use the bathroom, go here.”

They didn’t linger in the bathroom for more than a few seconds, though Yuugi closed the toilet lid as a precaution, glancing back at Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. 

“Over there is the shop,” Atem continued, nodding towards the curtain. “That’s where Grandpa works. You can’t go in there, though, ‘cause it would be bad if someone who’s allergic to cats came in. Anyway, this is dad’s office,” he said as he stepped through the next door.

Mr. Mutou glanced up from his chair as he heard them come in, smiling brightly. “Oh, hey kids! Showing the new kitten around the house?” he guessed.

Yuugi nodded. “Yup!”

“Nice! She’s so cute,” Mr. Mutou commented, reaching to pet Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. “What did you say her name was, again?”

“Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock.”

“Right, right. Hi, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Mr. Mutou said in a sweet voice, gently stroking the top of her head. “Oh, you’re so soft… How’s she been doing so far?”

“She’s very calm,” Atem replied thoughtfully. “It’s surprising. Most cats aren’t this mellow.”

“Well, I guess you picked a good cat, then!”

Atem beamed. “I picked the _best_ cat!”

Mr. Mutou laughed. “I guess you did. Remind me later to take the bell off that collar for you. By the way, I think we’re getting takeout tonight,” he added.

“Yay!” Yuugi cheered.

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock squirmed slightly in Atem’s arms, meowing quietly.

“Oh… I guess she’s getting tired of being carried around,” Atem realized, blinking in surprise as he adjusted his grip. “I don’t blame her. My arms are getting tired, too.”

“Well, we’ve shown her everything except the basement, so we should probably go ahead and let her down now,” Yuugi pointed out. “Should we go hang out in the living room?”

Atem nodded. “Sounds good.”

Yuugi waved a cheerful goodbye to his father as he followed Atem to the living room.

Once in the living room, Atem gently placed Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock down on the floor, and then sat down himself. “Alright, your highness, you’re free to go now.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock once again sniffed the air, glancing around curiously in all directions, her ear and her tail perked up with interest. She paused for a moment, and then meowed loudly, glancing back at Atem as if trying to get his attention. 

“Hello,” Atem replied. “Did you like your house tour?”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock said nothing more, already distracted by the exciting new environment. She walked around the living room, sniffing at things that caught her interest; Atem and Yuugi watched her wander, as she circled around the coffee table, and then continued on towards the couch. She hesitated for a moment, sizing up her target, and then jumped onto the cushion next to Yuugi. 

“Hi! How are- O-Oh, ow, ok then,” Yuugi winced as she walked right across his lap and over to the other end of the couch. She stood tall on the arm of the couch, and leaned forwards, giving a proud meow.

“Ah… The young princess surveys her kingdom from the balcony,” Atem said with a sage nod.

Yuugi laughed quietly, and leaned over to pet Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, scratching gently between her shoulderblades. “What do you think, your majesty?”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock turned towards Yuugi, tilting her head curiously. She leaned in, eyes wide and nose alert, until they were face-to-face.

“Hello,” Yuugi told her with a smile, and leaned forwards just enough for his nose to touch hers. “Boop!”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock gave a startled “Mrrp?”, abruptly pulling back in surprise. She remained there with that same startled expression for a few seconds, as if confused as to what had just happened.

Yuugi laughed, and petted Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock gently. “You’re so silly,” he told her. “You’re a silly kitty.”

“She’s a perfect kitty,” Atem added with a laugh. 

Yuugi nodded. “She is! Do you know you’re perfect, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock?”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock did not comment, instead hopping down from the couch. She continued her exploration of the living room, this time turning her attention towards the TV setup.

“Hmm… Wanna duel?” Yuugi suggested, watching Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock walk around the TV stand. 

“Sure.”

As Atem and Yuugi took out their decks, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock glanced up, her ear perking up with alertness at the new sounds. Curious, she walked right over to the source, climbing into Atem’s lap to get a closer look. 

“Hi, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Atem laughed. “Never seen Duel Monsters cards before, huh? Do you want to see? Look.” He flipped through the deck, searching for the right card. “See this? This is Dark Magician. He’s my friend.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock leaned forward, sniffing the card. After a moment, once she’d had enough time to investigate, Atem began shuffling the deck; Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock watched with interest, her eyes following his every motion.

“Look at the way her head moves, it’s so funny,” Yuugi commented as he shuffled his own deck, an amused smile on his face. “She’s watching you!”

Atem laughed. “You’re so cute, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. Do you even know how cute you are? Do you know?” he teased her as he placed his deck on the table. “Are you aware, your highness? Of your cuteness? Huh?”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock gave no response, her attention still fixated on the cards. She stood up with her front paws up on the table so she could see Atem’s deck, watching it as if waiting for it to do something; Meanwhile, Yuugi took a coin out of his pocket.

“Heads or tails?”

“Tails, of course,” Atem replied in a half-joking tone, running a hand gently down Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock’s back. 

Yuugi flipped the coin into the air, letting it land on the table.

“Looks like it’s- Ah! No, watch out!” he exclaimed as Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock suddenly climbed up onto the coffee table, knocking over Yuugi’s deck and smacking Atem with her tail in her haste to examine the coin.

“Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, no!” Atem gasped. “Aw, geez…”

Yuugi sighed as he began picking up his scattered cards; Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, meanwhile, paid him no mind, chasing the coin around the table with energetic smacks.

“I don’t think you should be playing with that, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock,” Atem told her in an apologetic tone, reaching for the coin. “It’s not- Ow, please don’t hit me- It’s not safe for you, baby. I don’t want you to swallow it, that would be bad.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock gave an irritated “Mrrooow” as Atem put the coin in his pocket. She followed his hand with her gaze- And her nose, shoving her head towards Atem’s hip as if trying to take the coin out again.

“No, nedjemet. It’s not for you. Come here,” Atem said, pulling Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock into his lap and giving her calming pets. “You can watch the duel if you want, but you have to stay off the table, ok?”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock meowed thoughtfully.

To Atem’s relief, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock remained quiet as they began the duel. The duel proceeded much like any other duel between the two of them- Calm at first, but soon growing more heated, both players sporting wide grins as they became absorbed in the rush of the game. 

“I activate Dark Magic Expanded, raising Dark Magician’s attack points to 3500! And now that Dark Magician’s powered up, I’ll attack-”

“Oh no you don’t!” Yuugi interrupted with a smirk, slapping his hand down on the table as he flipped over his set card. “Mirror Force!”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock chirped curiously, startled by the sudden drama. She climbed up onto the table to investigate, walking right over to Yuugi’s side of the field.

“Ah, no! Don’t step on Toy Magician!” Yuugi gasped.

Atem sighed, and grabbed Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, picking her up and pulling her away from the table, back into his lap. “Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, I love you, but you have to respect the duel, ok? You can’t just go stomping all over everything. It’s rude and disruptive.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock meowed in protest, and reached up to try to climb onto the table again.

 _“No,”_ Atem told her firmly, pulling her back down again. “You stay down here until we’re finished dueling.”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock gave an irritated chirp, and wriggled free of Atem’s grasp, slipping out of his lap and onto the floor. 

“Ok, bye!” Atem called after her as she wandered away, evidently no longer interested in what Atem and Yuugi were doing.

He yawned as he turned his attention back to the duel, watching Yuugi straighten out his cards. 

“Well, I guess we don’t have to worry about that for a while,” he commented. “Where did we leave off?”

“I just Mirror Force’d you,” Yuugi replied, unable to hide a slight smirk.

Atem’s calm expression quickly faded, scowling at Yuugi as he scooped up his monsters. Yuugi simply laughed.

* * *

“How many episodes do we have left?” Atem asked, as Yuugi pushed a tape into the VCR- The same tape they’d been watching the previous week.

“Just two, I think,” Yuugi replied.

As Yuugi started the tape, Atem glanced towards the door, wondering idly where Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock had gone. The adults were already in bed; Had she gone to sleep too? Or was she still awake, off doing whatever mysterious things it was that cats did while no one was looking?

Atem didn’t wonder for very long, though, as the TV still claimed his attention, jumping right into the action. He wrapped an arm around Yuugi, eyes glued to the screen as they both quickly became absorbed in the story.

“...You know,” Atem commented after a few minutes, “Honda-kun was right when he said that the anime makes Kakyoin look like a mattress with sunglasses.”

Yuugi stifled a laugh. “Hey! Don’t be mean to Kakyoin!”

“I’m not being mean to Kakyoin! I’m being mean to the animators,” Atem replied, sticking his tongue out teasingly. “Although come to think of it, why is Kakyoin wearing sunglasses at night, anyway?”

Yuugi shrugged. “I dunno. I guess he’s really committed to the look.”

“Mm... I can respect that, I guess.”

As the episode continued, the room remained quiet- Until a quiet scratching noise came from somewhere behind them, and Atem felt the couch vibrate slightly.

Atem frowned in confusion. “What is…”

Far ahead of his thought, Yuugi turned around, climbing up on his knees to lean over the back of the couch with a gasp.

“Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, no!” Yuugi exclaimed.

“Oh boy…” Atem sighed and clambered over the side of the couch, wincing as he saw the small tears in the upholstery. “You can’t scratch the furniture, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock. That’s not good,” he told her as he gently picked her up, carrying her over to the scratching post by the wall, despite her protests. “Your scratching post is here, see?”

The moment Atem put Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock down, she turned right around, walking back towards the couch as if nothing had happened. Atem couldn’t help but laugh slightly.

 _“No,_ Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock, come back,” he laughed, picking her up once more.

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock yowled in disdain, still trying to escape.

“No, sweetie, look,” Atem told her. “This is your scratching post right here, ok? Not the couch. Look.” He gently took her paw in one hand, and brought it up to the scratching post, mimicking a scratching motion. “Scratch, scratch! Like that, see?”

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock paused, staring thoughtfully at the scratching post; After a moment, she seemed to conclude that Atem’s suggestion was a reasonable one, and reached up to scratch at the surface of the post.

“She’s so cute,” Yuugi commented, watching Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock stretch out towards the top of the scratching post.

Atem nodded as he sat back down on the couch. “I’m surprised by how well she’s reacting to everything, to be honest.”

“I guess she knows this is where she’s supposed to be,” Yuugi said with a smile.

“Mm. Maybe.”

Yuugi yawned, and curled up against Atem’s side once again, turning his attention back towards the movie; After a few minutes, though, he suddenly jumped up, hurrying towards the TV.

“I changed my mind, we can’t watch this episode tonight,” he decided hastily as he paused the VCR.

Atem frowned, raising an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“It’s too sad. I can’t watch something sad right before bed,” Yuugi insisted, shaking his head. “I’ll get nightmares.”

...Atem narrowed his eyes at Yuugi, frowning as he tried to comprehend this statement.

Yuugi blinked, confused by Atem’s look. “What?”

“You mean you get nightmares because of, like… Actual, discernible reasons?” Atem questioned in confusion.

“I mean- Yeah, sometimes? I guess sometimes they’re just random, but I’m more likely to have nightmares if I’m upset about something before I go to bed,” Yuugi explained.

“Huh. That’s weird,” Atem commented. “I just get nightmares all the time.”

 _“All_ the time?” Yuugi repeated; He frowned at this statement, biting his lip in concern. “Don’t you ever have good dreams?”

Atem paused for a moment to think about it.

“...No,” he concluded, after several seconds. “Or- Maybe? I don’t know, sometimes I have dreams that start out pretty good, but there’s usually some fucked up undertones. Like maybe we’re doing something fun but then eventually everybody dies, or sometimes nothing bad happens, but everything feels really scary and wrong for some reason.” He shrugged. “I guess what I mean is that I have some dreams that are pretty good relative to my other dreams, but…”

Before Atem could continue, Yuugi wrapped his arms around his shoulders; Atem sighed, and leaned into the embrace, shaking his head as if to dismiss the conversation.

“This episode isn’t _seriously_ sad enough to give you nightmares, is it?” Atem wondered.

“It totally is! Kakyoin’s death always gets to me… He’s just too relatable,” Yuugi sighed.

“Why? ‘Cause he’s a gamer?”

“Wh- No, I- ...Ok, and what about it?!” Yuugi stammered, huffing offendedly. Atem simply laughed.

“Relax, I’m only teasing you,” Atem assured him. “You know I like Kakyoin too.”

Yuugi stuck his tongue out at Atem, but left it at that.

“I guess… What I mean is, like…” Yuugi sighed, trying to figure out how to explain what he meant. “Ok, so you know how right before Kakyoin dies, they like-”

“Suddenly dump his entire backstory out of nowhere all at once without having particularly alluded to it beforehand?” Atem guessed.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow, holding back a laugh. “Um, yeah. Well, that whole thing about, you know… How before he met Dio and Jotaro and all those guys he never knew other people had stands, and he was real lonely all the time, ‘cause he couldn’t relate to any of the other kids… And how even though his parents were nice to him and all, he was never really happy and didn’t really have any friends… I don’t know, it just kinda hits home for me,” he admitted, biting his lip.

Atem gave the slightest frown, eyebrows tilting in concern. “What do you mean?”

“It reminds me a lot of how I felt before I met you,” Yuugi explained; He sighed slightly, and leaned back against the couch. “I always felt different from other kids, too. I never seemed to connect with anybody the right way, and even though I had a good home life, I was always depressed. And I mean, sure, maybe I can’t- You know, summon a magical glowing ghost that shoots gems from its hands-”

“How do you know? Have you tried?” Atem interrupted jokingly.

Yuugi laughed. “Actually, yes, I have, thanks for asking. I’m entirely certain I’m not a stand user.”

“Well, as long as you’ve tried.” Atem paused, tilting his head thoughtfully. “You know, come to think of it, it wouldn’t be totally inaccurate to say there were stand users in ancient Egypt…”

“I… Huh, yeah, I guess that is kinda true, isn’t it,” Yuugi realized in surprise. “Maybe that’s where he got the idea, given that part 3 takes place in Egypt and all.”

Atem shrugged. “Could be. Like Duel Monsters. Hey, you think the Jojo guy also got possessed or whatever it was that happened to Pegasus?” he wondered.

“I’m not saying he _did,_ but… I mean… It _would_ explain a few things…”

Atem laughed, and then moved a little closer to Yuugi. He reached for Yuugi’s hand, holding it between them, squeezing gently resting their hands against the couch cushion.

“I’m… Sorry you were so alone for so long,” he said quietly.

Yuugi blinked in surprise. “O-Oh, um… It’s ok, don’t worry about me,” he stammered, giving a nervous smile. “After all, it’s- It’s nothing compared to what you went through, so…”

“Maybe, but it’s still something,” Atem replied with a shrug. “And I’m sorry it happened to you. I understand if you don’t want to finish this episode tonight.”

“Mm… Thanks,” Yuugi sighed.

Atem smiled reassuringly, and nuzzled against Yuugi’s cheek for a moment. “Honestly? Let’s just go to bed. I’ve had a long day,” he admitted, and yawned as if for emphasis.

“Sounds like it,” Yuugi laughed. “Bedtime it is, then.”

As Yuugi stood up, walking over to turn off the VCR while Atem stretched tiredly, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock looked up from her perch on top of the scratching post.

“Ready for bed, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock?” Atem asked, glancing at her with a smile.

Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock simply watched, tilting her head curiously as Atem and Yuugi took the tape out, turned off the VCR, turned off the TV, and headed up the stairs.

After a moment, Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock climbed down from her tower with grace, following after them dutifully.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes for this chapter:
> 
> 1\. Contrary to what Herodotus would have us believe, cats actually weren't particularly thought of as companions in ancient Egypt, nor worshipped. Yes, they were venerated, treated as sacred, and mummified- You know, at the temple to Bast at Bubastis, in the same way that crocodiles were at the temple to Sobek in Crocodilopolis. Your average Egyptian did not worship cats. Cats were kept around as pest control, and just kind of came and went as they pleased, for the most part. (You know the saying that cast "domesticated themselves"? Egypt is where that actually first happened.) Cats were not generally named (they were usually just called "cat") nor attested to as companions, unlike dogs and horses; In other words, Atem having named all of the palace cats is about equivalent to if someone learned to individually identify, and named, every single squirrel in their yard.
> 
> 2\. The antimicrobial properties of copper were well known in ancient Egypt, even if they didn't necessarily understand the science behind it. In modern times where we have plenty of access to clean drinking water and dishwashers, people don't generally think too hard on the material of their dishes, but for Atem it'd only be common sense to pick copper over a different material. It actually is true that copper drinking bowls are a good choice for pets for this exact reason.
> 
> 3\. Nedjemet means "sweet". This is in reference to the "first named cat, Sweetie", which actually comes from the tomb of Puyemre, where a partially destroyed wall carving depicts what is probably a cat and which appears to be labeled "nDm" for unknown reasons; Although it's unknown if this was the cat's actual name, or if this cat even existed at all, I still couldn't resist alluding to it.
> 
> 4\. Sorry to anyone I spoiled the ending of Stardust Crusaders for, lmao
> 
> Finally, I would like to say: Stories like Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock's, sadly, are all too common in the real world. There are so, so so many animals in shelters that don't get adopted because they're disabled, disfigured, have special health needs, etc. Pets like this may seem off-putting at first, but they can be just as sweet, fun, and lovable as any other pets if you just give them the chance! If anyone is in the market for a pet right now, please consider adopting a pet like Princess Dark Eradicator Warlock.  
> I know it's not like my niche little Yugioh fic is going to make a huge impact on animal awareness, but if I can convince just one person to give less adoptable animals a chance, I'll be happy.


End file.
